Gabriel Says Record Labels Need to Reinvent Themselves

Peter Gabriel has told the BBC that record companies need to look into the digital future and reinvent themselves as service companies and not as the "owners" of music.

The innovator is excited about the changes coming about in the marketplace. "I love all these experiments. There's a lot of ways for musicians to communicate and sell their records to their fans."

"There's still room for record companies but they should reinvent themselves as a service industry and not as owners.

"The structure of the old album and waiting for that to be finished still has some merit but you can do a lot of other things and I think it should be a lot looser and mixed up."

Gabriel has been an innovator right from the start, forming the digital download service OD2 in 1999. Recently, he opened the We7 site where users can stream music or download tracks with advertising or, for a small fee, without.