AltSounds spoke to ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti recently and as well as discussing the band’s recent tour in support of new album AB III, they also discussed the issue of the internet and it’s affects on the music industry.

“I actually think [the internet’s] become so massively popular that the music business has become hurt.” he comments, “It’s great if you’re a kid in High School who has no money to go out and listen to anything and everything you ever want to hear, but at the same time the industry is suffering. I think there needs to be some sort of resolution to the problem because for artists to have a career, it’s very difficult. Something’s gotta give.”

When asked if piracy was something that upset him therefore, Mark confirms that it definitely does. “We’re not creating this music for free, we have to go and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars recording this music,” he explains, “…not to mention the countless hours it takes to record the music, the countless hours of writing – months and months, years and years, go into this recording. Sometimes it can take a whole lifetime. So yeah, it’s tough to have someone just take it, just like that. I do think it’s a good idea to be offering fans free downloads and giving them the opportunity to pay for what they’ve downloaded if they enjoy it – but the way people just keep stealing and stealing, it makes the thought a little less appealing.“

Read the full interview at this location.

‘AB III’ is available in all good record stores now. You can also pick it up on iTunes by clicking here.