Gloria Estefan: Record Company Execs were 'Idiots' at the Onset of Internet Age

Miami, FL (www.thestrippodcast.com) - Legendary pop star Gloria Estefan says record industry executives were "idiots" to try to halt the downloading of music on the Internet and that that a lack of foresight "has taken the music industry down."

"It needn't have gone to this level had the multi-nationals not fought technology," Estefan told the weekly Vegas celebrity-interview podcast "The Strip" this weekend. "They should've been the ones putting the music out there. 'Here, buy this on the Internet. You don't have to have the whole album, Here's the single you want.' … I fought my company tooth and nail when we stopped putting out singles."
Estefan, who has sold 70 million albums in a career that has made her the biggest bilingual crossover act in pop history, has recorded for most of her career with Sony Records.

Estefan said: "You can no longer shove an album down your throat and say 'Here's 15 songs, four of them are good. Spend $20 on this CD.' Not going to happen. That's what's taken the music industry down. People are going to say, 'OK, now I like this song from here, I'm going to download this over here, I like maybe these four songs from this album."

The singer says she's a consumer, too, and she believes the Internet can only increase music sales if it's handled properly. "I've bought more music for my iPod than I bought in the last 10 years of my life," she says.
The entire interview and any past episode of "The Strip" can be found at www.thestrippodcast.com or thestrip.podshow.com.