On Thursday, March 19, legendary music/film producer and arranger Quincy Jones spoke for 2-and-a-half hours to a packed house at the Austin Convention Center about the state of the music industry, the future of the music business, his first encounters with Michael Jackson, brain science, nanotechnology and the success he has enjoyed around the globe by being a "Ghetto Gump," happening to be in the right place at the right time. He also shared some personal anecdotes from his years in the industry. 

Jones recounted how he discovered Oprah Winfrey, having cast her in The Color Purple, a film adapted from Alice Walker's novel and directed by Steven Spielberg. Walker was apparently hesitant to have such a young (not to mention Jewish) director at the helm, who until then was best known for the sci-fi/action blockbusters Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Quincy was able to convince her that this was the man for the job. Executives even doubted that they could get Spielberg to commit to Color Purple "before Schindler's List was made." Spielberg himself asked Jones, "Don't you want a black director to make this film?" Jones' reply: "Did you have to go to Mars to film E.T.?" 

During one especially tender moment, during a screening of Ray Charles performing "My Buddy (Quincy)" at Montreaux, the producer teared up and turned away from the crowd.

On the future of the music business, Jones was at a loss. He cited Napster, iPods and other technology for the decline in sales and said there would never be another multi-million-selling record, stating "I got mine," and that it's now up to future generations to figure their way out of the box. Yet, he sympathized with up-and-coming artists that find themselves surrounded by "an entire generation that does not know people ever paid for music." At one point, he even said he was "open to any ideas" for solutions to new revenue streams and suggested music could monetize itself through advertising similar to television.  

Jones has put forth a new idea, however. This year, he started a petition and at last count has aquired over 240,000 signatures in an effort to lobby President Obama to create a cabinet-level position entitled Secretary of Culture (or Minister of the Arts) – which most other countries already have – a postion that would be tasked with music education and artists' rights.

Highlights from Jones' address in five parts after the jump.

This article appears in Mar 25-31, 2009.