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Tracy Chapman revealed that she does not use music streaming platforms, and encouraged people to buy physical music media in a rare interview conducted by The New York Times. Her reasoning is simple: “Artists get paid when you actually buy a CD or the vinyl. That’s important to me,” the “Fast Car” singer-songwriter said.
“I’m maybe going to date myself now, or someone’s going to call me a Luddite,” Chapman told the New York Times’ Lindsay Zoladz, “but I don’t stream music.”
“To some extent, it limits what I listen to, because it’s a physical commitment of going out into the world and finding things, but I still do go out,” she remarked. When asked if anyone in particular has piqued her interest recently, Chapman pointed out the female recipients at this year’s Grammy Awards. Zoladz asked if she meant new pop star Chappell Roan, and Chapman agreed, plus acknowledged Charli XCX.
“It’s not music that I would make, but I appreciate that we’re in this moment where there’s a path for artists like that, and they can even have success,” she commented.
Chapman also spoke about reissuing her 1988 self-titled debut record, and reflected on the lack of progress in the US in the last 37 years. “There’s a part of me that wishes certain songs on the record were not relevant right now,” Chapman said. “I really believed we were going to be in a better place, with more justice and more equity and less violence. But I think, between the 16-year-old who wrote ‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’ and the 61-year-old sitting here with you now, that my values are the same. I still have the same concerns.”
“The thing that I take from it is that, now that I’m older, is that it’s this constant practice that needs to occur. A constant vigilance. You can’t expect that things will hold.”
The singer-songwriter reissued Tracy Chapman last Friday, and teased that she is constantly writing new material. “If I were to tour, I would tour for something new,” she said. “That would be the thing that would be most interesting to me at this point… Whenever someone asks, ‘What’s your favorite song?’ It’s always the one I’m writing at the time.”
Chapman’s most recent release was 2008’s Our Bright Future and her latest tour took place the following year.
English (US) · 