Steven Van Zandt Thinks Classic Rock’s Death Is Inevitable

E Street Band guitarist, Steven Van Zandt, holds quite a bleak perspective about the future of classic rock. In a recent appearance with Bill Maher on Club Random, conversations pointed to the current music consumption.

“Right now, because the record industry is dead, there’s no more record sales other than Taylor Swift and Beyonce,” Van Zandt stated. He further elaborated that films and television shows are now the main revenue source for many recording artists. However, these avenues are also facing challenges as musicians have significantly increased their licensing fees to stay afloat. Van Zandt explained:

“You got a bunch of whatever, 25-year-olds with a song list with a number next to it.
“So if you want to make a movie or TV show, you ask for the song, they look at the number and they charge you that number, which is always high because there’s no other income.”

Classic rock, popularly known for its broad appeal, remains the most-licensed music genre. But
Van Zandt fears that the rising licensing costs can dissuade filmmakers from including these timeless tracks on the screens. He asserted:

“This is a real problem. And I think 10 years from now, 20 years from now, it’s going to be a problem because all this music is going to die if it’s not promoted and heard.
“It’s going to be like Motown who? Rolling Stones who?”

The band guitarist is pushing for legal reforms around music licensing as a solution to balance both the interests of filmmakers and musicians. Van Zandt also highlighted how different things were when the E Street Band and Bruce Springsteen began their careers. He recalled:

“When we started, music in movies was free. It was free.
“Martin Scorsese didn’t even ask for permission to put [the Ronettes’] Be My Baby in Mean Streets because it was free. And people thought of it as promoting the records. Nobody’s promoting the records anymore.”

He also cited examples like the popular series Stranger Things and how TV and film can revive interest in classic tracks. According to Van Zandt, licensing deals are crucial if we want classic rock to survive.

His final probing question, “When our generation goes, who’s going to know about this stuff?”