Jean-Michel Jarre

“I was always interested in mixing experimentation with pop music, and Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream - we were all doing it at the same time, just very isolated from each other, all in our different cellars, in different worlds, without the Internet - underground in every sense.”

“Music, photography, media, film - it's all going to be free on the Internet. We have to accept it.”

“Generation after generation, there is this never-ending, contemptuous, condescending attitude to the next generation or the next way of thinking: music, art, politics, whatever. And I have never been like that.”

“The value of streaming platforms is estimated at a few billion dollars, and creators can only afford a pizza without pepperoni at the end of the year with the revenues. Without musicians, all those platforms wouldn't exist, so we urgently need an appropriate and sustainable business model for musicians for the 21st century.”

“When I began making electronic music, the only thing I was thinking about was creating music that I really liked. I didn't think about what effect it would have; I was busy doing it.”

“Most of the time, when you are in the studio, you are revealing yourself; you're a bit naked. You can express your weaknesses, your awkward way of approaching sound. Sharing these intimate moments is like inviting somebody into your private room.”

“If you get rid of music, images, videos, words and literature from the smartphone, you just have a simple phone that would be worth $50.”

“Music is the backbone of my shows.”

“I leave everyone to have their own opinions of my music and my influence - or not - on others.”

“Creative industries are more important than the car industry, luxury jewels, and fashion.”

“This project, 'Electronica,' is about working with people who are a strong source of inspiration to me.”

“Think about when you listen to a song on the radio. You are not paying for it; it's not illegal to do it, because the rights have been paid for on top, beforehand, by the radio station, by the network. We have to find exactly the same kind of system with the Internet.”

“I understand more when I travel why people believe that the French are arrogant.”

“I thought we had opposite visions of electronic music. Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk had a very robotic, mechanical approach. I had a more impressionist vision - a Ravel/Debussy approach.”

“I wanted to create a bridge between experimental music and pop.”

“What may not have value to you today may have value to an entire population, entire people, an entire way of life tomorrow. And if you don't stand up for it, then who will?”

“Sometimes, you try something, and it works in terms of success. That doesn't mean you like what is a hit. Sometimes you like the most obscure song on your album.”

“Our senses have changed, even though our emotions have not.”

“For me, electronic music is like cooking: it's a sensual organic activity where you can mix ingredients.”

“I collect robots. They're mainly Japanese, American, and especially Russian - small robots, big robots, and old toy robots made between 1910 and the Fifties.”