Iggy Pop says "Stooges were inappropriately mastered"

In a recent interview with NME Iggy Pop spoke about his career and how things were different when he recorded the first Stooges album.

“When I started out, I didn’t know what publishing was,” Iggy said. “I didn’t understand you were paid money on the basis of intellectual property. Nobody told me, and I didn’t ask. When I was doing the first Stooges album, I thought that writing credits were just about glory. Now, these guys have lawyers, realtors, investment advisors – you name it.”

Looking back Iggy praises the advancement in studio technology “The original Stooges [recordings] were all inappropriately mastered,” he said. “They sounded wimpier than they really were. Then later, as CDs came in and then, especially in the digital age with streaming. Suddenly the same records sound the way they should have.”

Iggy Pop and The Stooges Merchandise

Iggy adds "Society and music, in general, went in a direction that made it easier for people to realize the virtues of the music I’m involved in. “I was finally able to solve the old problem of hearing. ‘Well your record is still in the red and you didn’t sell.’ They’ve all turned over now, the 25 studio albums between the Stooges and my solo work. The company made money, I get a royalty, so everybody can shut the fuck up and leave me alone!”

Iggy adds more words of wisdom “if I was another person, I could sit down and graph all that out and come up with some sort of a schematic plan to capitalize a little bit more, but I’m not. I have noticed life has become a little easier and more rewarding in certain areas than it used to be and seems to continue that way, which really surprises me. Mostly I’m grateful there are people who’ve listened to the music and enjoy it.”

Iggy Pop turned 75 this year and even at that age he has the heart and passion of a young man. Her said “I always assumed there would be an arc and things would quiet down after I hit 65. That hasn’t been the case.”