Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was on hand at NAMM 2005 and spent some time with MacCentral to discuss his new band F5 and his thoughts on selling music on the iTunes Music Store.
From a musician’s side of the business, Ellefson said he has definitely noticed the trend moving more to the digital medium, although personally he said he still likes to have the physical CD. With the maturing digital market also comes recognition that artists should be paid for their work.
“That system [music downloads] has gotten so much over the past couple of years,” said Ellefson. “People are also starting to realize that artists need to get paid.”
Ellefson’s new band F5 has finished work on their new album and are in talks with several labels about distribution. While there are no definite plans to make the music available on the iTunes store, Ellefson said it makes sense that they would do that.
“Having a good label is like having a good banker — no matter what business you’re in, you need to have a good banker,” said Ellefson. “It makes sense to have our music on iTunes, but that’s really up to the label.”