Lou Reed: making music for ads is not selling out, I masturbate daily to stay creative

Legendary rock star Lou Reed has said that musicians should no longer shirk associations with the advertising world.

“It used to be that being involved in advertising was selling out. Now it’s opposite,” he said in answer to a question from Mumbrella on how the music and advertising industries could work better together.

Asked whether young people want to choose advertising or music for a career these days, he said “neither, if you’re in it for the money.”

“If it was about money, you’d be a politician,” he told journalists at a press conference at the Cannes Lions festival today.

He also picked the  music streaming service Spotify for the low revenue generated for artists, and said there was now “no such thing as privacy”.

When asked what he does to stay creative as the years progress, a question he clearly did not like, he said: “I masturbate every day.”