Morrissey on Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith: 'Things Can't Possibly Get Any Worse'

Eating meat, Live Earth, fur coats, Johnny Marr and the current state of music: These are the things that Morrissey dislikes. In a new interview, Morrissey lamented about how marketing dictates popularity in the music industry nowadays as well as the predictable nature of record labels. He then admitted to Boulder Weekly that he considers fellow British crooners Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran to be the absolute nadir in music, adding "things can't possibly get any worse."

"There are no bands or singers who become successful without overwhelming marketing. There are no surprise success stories. Everything is stringently controlled, obvious and predictable and has exactly the same content," Morrissey said. "So, we are now in the era of marketed pop stars, which means that the labels fully control the charts, and consequently the public has lost interest. It's very rare that a record label does something for the good of music. Thus we are force-fed such as Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, which at least means that things can't possibly get any worse. It is sad, though. There's no spontaneity now, and it all seems to be unsalvageable."

Earlier this year, Morrissey parted ways with his label, Harvest Records, which released his 2014 album World Peace Is None of Your Business. In the interview, Morrissey also discussed how the characteristics of the artist and the audience have flipped since he first entered the rock scene in the early Eighties.

"It seems to me that the situation has reversed," he said. "The bands now strive to stay healthy whereas the music public, especially the very young, dress and look very clichéd rock n' roll, and with that comes a careless attitude towards drugs. The positives are the rejection of fur and leather and McDonalds and even plastics, all very important no-go zones for the intelligent young people. Then you see someone wearing animal fur and they immediately register as being moronic. So, in amongst the grime, I see lots of good changes, and as soon as animals are off the menu, the world will be a great place."