Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabrielis an English singer-songwriter, musician and humanitarian activist who rose to fame as the original lead singer and flautist of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, Gabriel launched a solo career, with "Solsbury Hill" his first single. His 1986 album, So, is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the U.S. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth13 February 1950
CityChobham, England
We wrote a little manifesto with just some ideas on how this digital revolution could transform music-making itself, and that is the part that people have generally ignored so far. They've been totally preoccupied with the business side of it, but not so much with how the new formats - or the freedom of formats - could change the nature of what exactly is created.
I think FIFA just want (to say), 'Anything the Olympics can do, we can do better.' It's a pretty big audience.
If we can use some of the footage that our partners have created to campaign and we think we should and there needs to be action and there needs to be action now.
I love 5.1. Sometimes you can't squeeze everything in comfortably into a stereo picture. There is a lot more space in a 5.1 environment.
When they had (Nelson) Mandela shows in London the bill was really mixed and I don't think we lost any viewers as a result. African artists are strong, charismatic and compelling, and I think they hold people's attention.
More and more people are going to download their music, and if it all stays free and there is no control over the payments, then it will be difficult for younger artists to make a livelihood.
The industry does have some influence on who gets other awards. With the Mercury Prize, they don't. Jon comes from the business, but his heart is still very much in the music. Currently, we have about 12 major names that have said they want to be a part of MUDDA.
We had some good cameramen, and Hamish Hamilton, who did the direction, is very talented.
There was one that we worked on in production called "My Head Sounds Like That." We did it in a couple of shows where we were performing to smaller audiences without production and it was one of the stronger songs.
People go on and on about the copyright issue, and that is central to what is going on now. Someone sent me an article from the Register this morning about this person named Fisher who has proposed an extra $6 per month on every broadband user's bill that would supply enough revenue to pay all the money that is earned from records and films.
We are trying to change things and allow artists to be at the front of the food chain and become their own retailers and keep a big part of the margin. They can get paid directly as the money comes in and they can monitor it day-to-day totally transparent. That is a model that I would like to see adopted by the music business.
From the pain come the dreamFrom the dream come the visionFrom the vision come the peopleFrom the people come the powerFrom this power come the change
It's like owning a big playpen and someone else is going to pay for it,
Still Growing Up: Peter Gabriel Live & Unwrapped.