Henry Rollins: Hendrix ‘spinning in his grave’ over Spotify’s sound

Punk legend Henry Rollins has attacked the sound quality of music streaming services like Spotify.

Henry Rollins remains a fan of analog music over streaming. Picture: Kylie Else

Punk legend Henry Rollins says artists like Jimi Hendrix would be “spinning in their grave” if they knew young people were listening to their music through services like Spotify, as the company gears up for a billion-dollar IPO.

The Stockholm-based streaming giant is set to go public in the US today, but has struggled to turn a profit amid a competitive environment and a backlash from artists who say the company doesn’t pay enough royalties.

Rollins, who fronted influential band Black Flag between 1981 and 1986, said the music quality delivered by services like Spotify just wasn’t up to scratch.

“You’re listening to streaming coming out of your Palm Pilot, or your tablet or whatever, and it’s being compressed with the crap headphones that came with it,” Rollins said.

“So whatever artist you’re listening to, if they are alive they’re screaming in agony, or if they’re dead they’re spinning in their grave. (Jimi) Hendrix wanted you to hear the records he made on analog, so get a damn turntable.

“As a young person, the first way you’re listening to music is usually nowadays via your tablet, your phone, through a streaming service. It’s two little speakers playing digital music.”

Spotify’s subscribers per quarter (millions)

The singer-turned-activist was in Australia with Mercedes-Benz, filming a documentary series on Australian “toughness” and interviewing personalities like Mick Fanning and indigenous rapper Briggs. Rollins says he remains a firm believer in analog music.

“I can sit you down in front of one of my six stereo systems, I can blindfold you and play your favourite album, one will be an LP and one will be a CD, and you’ll have to pick which one you like better and you’ll say the LP. Trust me, every single time you’ll ­always pick the LP. You’re just hearing a tonne more.

“That’s the downside of streaming — you’re not getting all the music; you’re not getting all the food that’s on the plate.

“You’re not getting all the colours on the palette.”

One piece of technology Rollins is more on board with is Twitter, declaring that if it was around during his Black Flag days in the 80s he would have been an avid user. The punk singer famously kept detailed journals and diary entries of life on the road.

“A lot of my life in those days was ‘I have to tell you everything right now’,” he said.

“You have to know what I’m doing. You have to know my opinion. Right now.

“We’re at this point now, like everyone else, I’ve got a million opinions and now there’s a website you can go to and you can read if you want.

“But in those days it was ‘you’d better read this right now’. And I would have done that probably every 30 seconds. It just would’ve been a lot of crap.”