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MUSIC
SXSW 2016

Bowie producer offers bleak vision of music future

Mike Snider
USA TODAY
Music producer Tony Visconti speaking at South By Southwest Festival on March 17, 2016.

AUSTIN -- Legendary record producer Tony Visconti delivered a cautionary tale about the future of the music industry Thursday here at the South By Southwest Festival.

Dubbing himself "the ghost of Christmas future," Visconti read from a novel he is writing based in 2026, when there is one U.S. mega-record label called The Universe that no longer signs artists. Instead, it sells tickets to the public for a weekly lottery, the winner of which gets a makeover into a pop star for one week.

The song they are given by The Universe is the only track released that week. With a new manufactured pop star weekly, each winner is disposable.

"This is the way the future can be. All the signs are there. I think we are living in a time when formulas are being repeated more than they have ever repeated in the past," Visconti said. "Watching The Voice and America's Got Talent (people) get the impression that becoming a big star is just luck."

Record producer Tony Visconti spoke at South By Southwest on Thursday, March 17.

The Brooklyn-born Visconti is best known for producing many David Bowie albums including his 1969 self-titled album and Bowie's last album Blackstar, released in January, just two days before his death. He also orchestrated strings for Paul McCartney & Wings' Band on the Run album and produced albums for T. Rex, the Moody Blues and Iggy Pop.

Growing up, he was exposed to a melting pot of international music, he says. The first instrument he played was a ukelele and he began playing guitar at age 11, Visconti said. He became the in-house producer for music publishing firm The Richmond Organization and eventually moved to London to continue that work.

Since he was told that he was "an expert with the weirder artists," Visconti was connected with the then-19-year-old David Bowie. They became like "kin," he said. "We were brothers."

Visconti said he didn't want to come off as a curmudgeon with his grim vision of music's future. There's still plenty of talent, but labels need to return to the practice of developing artists and nurturing their individuality, Visconti said. He noted that EMI signed Kate Bush when she was 16 years old, after Pink Floyd's David Gilmour heard her music. But her first album was not released for nearly four years, Visconti said.

Producers need to break out of current formulas, he said. It's as if "10 mixers are mixing all the singles of today," Visconti said. "There must be 30 mixers in this audience today (that aren't getting those jobs). All the records, everybody says this, they all sound the same."

The next David Bowie is out there, he said, but a music label might not recognize him. Or the musician might hide their unique gifts to gain the attention. "Don’t dumb down and write a crap song and hope you will get in Girls," he said. "It’s a losing game. There’s too many people who want that job. But if you are a genius show them what you got, your best stuff, not what you think they want."

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider

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