Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has delivered his first public lecture at Salford University, entitled 'Always From The Outside: Mavericks, Innovators And Building Your Own Ark'. In it he criticised the music industry for not being creative, and praised artists such as Bob Marley, Kurt Cobain and The Sex Pistols who "built their own ark".
He said: "I am not a cynic. I am not really down on the British music industry. However, it has never created anything in its history. It never invented anything, although it has done plenty of good things, like good records, but nothing has ever been created of value by the British or American music industries... People out of necessity, rejection or frustration, with talent and vision built their own ark and sailed it ahead of the music industry".