Neil Tennant believes YouTube has transformed the music industry.
Neil Tennant believes YouTube has changed the music business
The Pet Shop Boys star has claimed that music has "ceased to be ageist", partly because of the video-sharing platform.
Neil, 69, told the Guardian newspaper: "Weirdly, music ceased to be ageist. Young people are listening to their parents’ records. It’s all up for grabs."
The singer explained that YouTube has allowed music fans to go back in time and listen to artists from the past.
He said: "You could have a fond memory of seeing the video for 'Strawberry Fields Forever' on 'Top of the Pops' in 1967, and then you never saw it again.
"But I could look at it now. Something happened then. It all existed at the same time."
Neil observed that "age doesn’t seem to matter any more" because of platforms like YouTube.
The 'West End Girls' hitmaker said: "I think pop stars have managed to do what we used to think only old blues musicians could do - turn into sort of ‘authentic’, classic … I think the public accept that.
"You could call it nostalgia, but I think it’s a desire to witness an authentic movement recreated.
"Age doesn’t seem to matter any more because the music doesn’t seem to have aged."
Neil and keyboardist Chris Lowe have sold more than 50 million records together as part of The Pet Shop Boys.
But Neil refuses to over-analyse their partnership as he fears it could "destroy" their chemistry.
He said: "To analyse something might be to destroy it.
"I think there’s an acceptance of the inevitability of it. We met by chance, we started writing songs. It’s sort of remarkable, really, so it’s best not to dwell on it too much."
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