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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Huey Lewis Not A Fan Of "Free" Music

As far as markets go, rock legend Huey Lewis doesn't need a new drug.

Lewis invests for the long haul, and the stomach-churning volatility in stocks since the start of 2016 doesn't bother the 80's hitmaker, according to CNBC.

"I think it's looking for a bottom somewhere. I'm an investor, I'm not a speculator. So I just sit tight," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box," in an interview last week from the AT&T Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach. "But I think we had an amazing run, so this is a correction of sorts," he added.

"If you just buy blue-chip stocks that pay dividends and hang on, you're gonna be fine," he argued, saying he mainly puts his money in a "nice little blend" of mutual funds. "I buy funds. I'm a fund guy. If I was a stock guy, I would have to watch the market every day. I can't do that. I'm out playing harmonica and golf."

While the volatile market doesn't ruffle Lewis' feathers, free music on the Internet, however, is a whole other matter.

The power of the Internet has dramatically changed the music business over the years — first with fans moving away from buying entire albums and downloading individual songs to more recently listening to streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. Lewis told CNBC he's not convinced the effect is entirely beneficial.


"I mean what's really interesting is to watch the Internet and the effect it's going to have. And I'm not sure it's good. I mean the Spotify and all this stuff," Lewis said.

"The Eagles ... made these wonderful records, but they were notoriously meticulous," he added. "It took a lot of time, a lot of money. How are you going to do that when records are free? It's actually a very worrisome thing. Where are these iconic bands going to come from?"

That said, Lewis feels his music has been sort of grandfathered under the old paradigm. "Fortunately, we were branded in the 80s when there was an editing process. Top 40 radio … determined who was going to get the attention and who wasn't." Now, with digital music and streaming ruling the roost, the process has evolved considerably.

"Now with less of that around, that brand is on the rise again, because there's less new bands coming out with that kind of branding, because of the Internet," he added.

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