Lloyd Cole has been in the music industry for nearly 40 years and in that time, he’s gathered more than a few thoughts on it.

The British musician, known for his sensitive, literate songwriting style, first rose to fame in the 1980s with his band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. The group had a string of memorable hits in the U.K. including “Rattlesnakes,” “Are You Ready to be Heartbroken” and “Lost Weekend.”

Though his first few solo albums were well-received by critics, they were not met with the same commercial success he attained with the Commotions. Since the 2000s, Cole has released his albums on smaller European indie labels.

Now, at age 62, Cole is aware of how much the industry has changed since his career first began. 

“What did change over the years, and it’s not just because of streaming, but you know, you could be an artist in the ‘60s and ‘70s and your first two albums could fail. And your record company would still keep faith in you,” Cole said. 

Now, a band is lucky if they’re even given the chance to make a second album. As Cole succinctly puts it, “There are people that make a lot of money, and then there’s the rest.”

Cole also feels that the balance between touring and recording has shifted. 

“The model is the exact opposite of what we had when we were making music in the ‘80s. In the ‘80s, we used to lose money because we were promoting albums. And we were willing to lose money because we made serious money from selling albums. Now, it’s exactly the opposite way around,” Cole said. “I make albums, from an economic perspective, so that I can tour.”

Cole has also seen the ups and downs of being on a major record label compared to the smaller, independent labels he’s worked with in recent years. 

“On the bright side for the major label, when they’re behind you, when they think they can make a success, then they have resources that are just unbelievable,” Cole said. “They can spend massive amounts of money on promotion. And I’ve been on the right side of successful advertising campaigns.” 

Of course, major labels also have plenty of downsides. 

“They will go with what their market research tells them. So if you’ve made an album for them and if their market research says ‘Oh, this isn’t gonna sell,’ then they won’t spend the money on it. The independent record companies for the most part let me do what I want,” Cole said.

Surprisingly, Cole is not a fan of the vinyl resurgence that has been going strong since the 2010s. 

“I’m not a huge fan of vinyl. I think it’s something of a fetish. And it’s really, really not green,” Cole said. “The vinyl coming back into vogue is quite ironic because it came back into vogue almost exactly at the same time that we finally managed to make CDs sound really good.”

While vinyl has had a significant comeback, streaming still reigns supreme. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sees streaming services as more of a marketing tool than a primary source of revenue, telling Music Ally. 

“It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans,” Ek said.

Cole agrees, though with some reservation. 

“It is exposure and the more exposure you have the more chance of selling tickets you have, I guess,” Cole said. 

He feels, however, that with subscription-based streaming services consumers no longer feel the need to pay for entertainment. 

“People started to feel that music was something that they didn’t really have to pay for, that music was basically kind of free, like TV. You’d pay a subscription, then you’ve got access to all of it,” Cole said. “We actually make even less money, I think, than we did before the record companies were involved because the record companies are almost all publicly owned companies and therefore their goal is to make money for their shareholders.”

Despite the constantly changing landscape of the music industry, Lloyd Cole clearly won’t be slowing down anytime soon. His new album, “On Pain,” will be released June 23. The album is available for pre-order on his website.