David Bowie would not have become a star in today’s profit-obsessed music industry, Nile Rodgers says

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David Bowie would have failed to become a star in today’s profit-obsessed music industry, one of his producers said yesterday.

Nile Rodgers, who co-produced Bowie’s album Let’s Dance as well as having a hugely acclaimed music career of his own, said modern labels would never have given the British star so many chances to find commercial success.

Bowie, who died almost eight years ago aged 69, released a series of unsuccessful songs in the early part of his career. 

And his 1967 debut studio album reached only number 125 in the UK charts.

David Bowie (pictured in 2004) would have failed to become a star in today’s profit-obsessed music industry, one of his producers said yesterday

Nile Rodgers (pictured in 2018), who co-produced Bowie’s album Let’s Dance, said modern labels would never have given the British star so many chances to find commercial success

David Bowie is pictured with Nile Rodgers (both dressed in white suits) at the Frankie Crocker Awards at the Savoy in New York in 1983

Rodgers, 71, co-founder of disco legends Chic, teamed up with Bowie for 1983’s Let’s Dance, which topped the UK chart and reached number four in the US. 

Appearing before the Commons’ culture committee to talk about the economics of music streaming, he said of Bowie: ‘They gave him all that time to try and make a hit. Those days honestly are truly over.’

Two years ago, the committee published a report calling for artists to be given a more equal share of revenue as part of a ‘complete reset’ of the streaming market.

Rodgers, who is a producer-in-residence for Apple Music, cited a story claiming US rapper Snoop Dogg was paid just $45,000 (£36,000) for a billion streams on Spotify.

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