Noel Gallagher Blames Labels for Piracy

On any given day, I have a handful of “shocking” quotes from one or both of the Gallagher brothers that I could post, but most of them are just the good ol’ Oasis boys winding people up. Today, for example, Noel’s making the rounds for admitting that he “spent £1m on drugs” as of 1998, adding, “I look at [Coldplay’s] Chris Martin who says he has never taken drugs in his life and I think he is an idiot.” But since music piracy will be the topic du jour for the next year at least, you may find Noel’s recent comments to MTV Brazil’s Mari Moon a bit more interesting than your everyday Gallagher echo chamber.

Though Gallagher admitted he’s “the only person in England who doesn’t own a computer,” he could relate to the younger generation that can’t buy records from stores any longer, thus forcing them to go online. “You have to be legally, you know, money in the bank, credit cards, and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “But it also means that it’s just taking music away from poor people. And that’s why people download music for free, where they can really get it from.”

Then things get more interesting: “If I was 16 and I’d left school and I didn’t have a job, but I had a computer and I could get an Oasis album for free somewhere, you’re gonna do it aren’t you? I mean lucky for me I’m not in that situation, but if I was I know I wouldn’t be paying for it. But it’s the record company’s fault. They made music too expensive in the first place. [A] CD costs £2 to make and £15 to buy.”

To come full circle, I guess you could say that Noel thinks your money would be better spent on drugs than music, but now I’m just feeding The Sun their next headline.