L.A. Reid On Tech In Music: ‘I Wanna See Black Kids Write Code'
L.A. Reid On Technology In Music: ‘I Wanna See Black Kids Write Code’ [VIDEO]
Smokey Fontaine interviewed musician, songwriter, record producer and music executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid for NewsOne’s exclusive interview series, NewsOne Conversations.”
During their chat about the music industry Reid and Fontaine talked about how the internet has changed the business. Reid told Fontaine at first the music industry was “caught off guard” by the World Wide Web and “didn’t know how to grapple with it.”
SEE ALSO: L.A. Reid Tells How He Knew 14-Year-Old Usher Would Be A Star [VIDEO]
“We didn’t know whether to fight it or to embrace it,” said Reid. “We weren’t willing to change as an industry; and, as a result of us not wanting to change as an industry, we watched multi-billion-dollar, multi-national companies be built off of our backs.”
He continued, “Those little Xs and Os–digital language–equals dollar signs.”
As a result of seeing how influential online scripting has been, Reid said, “I wanna to see Black kids write code.”
Referencing another comment he’d made about the state of Black music he made to Fontaine in an earlier video, Reid continued, “Yes, I complained Black kids don’t write songs, but I would be really happy if I saw Black kids writing code because technology is our future.”
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