( CNN ) -- Steven Van Zandt did not mince words . Steven Van Zandt ( right ) wants musicians to have a sense of history and care for their craft . `` I want to spend just a minute on a topic that never ever gets discussed in the music business -- the music , '' the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and `` Sopranos '' star said in a speech to the SXSW music and arts festival in March . `` The reason nobody wants to talk about it is because it mostly sucks ! `` Who are we kidding here ? '' he said . `` Nobody 's buying records ? Because they suck ! '' He called the speech `` A Crisis of Craft , '' and implored listeners to get back to rock ' n ' roll 's roots . Learn how to play cover songs , he said . Get people to dance . Harness your working-class energy . Take pride in craft . It 's been two months since that speech , and Van Zandt is still passionate about the subject . `` [ Rock ' n ' roll ] is a craft that has to be learned , '' he tells CNN . `` There are things you learn by listening to great records , copying heroes . '' He believes that he said some things that people were thinking , but have n't said out loud . But the rumbles are out there . The music business is in a state of flux , with the sales of more profitable CDs continuing to fall even as single downloads climb . `` American Idol 's '' season is coming to an end , with rock purists once again assailing the show 's slick pop sensibility . Commercial radio , country , rap and hip-hop -- they all have their critics , many of them wishing a return to the way things used to be . Blog : What do you think of the state of rock ' n ' roll ? Van Zandt has sympathy for all sides , coming at the issue from what he calls `` a unique perspective '' -- he 's a musician , a DJ ( with his radio show and Sirius XM channel , `` Little Steven 's Underground Garage '' ) and record label honcho ( Wicked Cool Records ) . He 's quick to observe that he 's not slamming all pop music . There 's vibrancy in some hip-hop , he says , and he admires `` Idol , '' particularly when it promotes music history . `` But it 's quite an alien world to my traditional rock ' n ' roll world , '' he adds . `` It has nothing to do with it . '' Within that rock ' n ' roll world , he worries . Today 's bands , he says , look down on performing covers , and as a result many have gotten lost in a musical wilderness . `` The result is an extraordinary amount of mediocrity , '' he says . `` There are no standards to live up to . '' Which is part of the problem with rejuvenating rock ' n ' roll , says Steve Greenberg , founder of S-Curve Records , which includes alt-rockers Tinted Windows and We The Kings among its acts . Technology is one problem , he observes . `` I think in the old days , in order to even be decent , it took a lot of work , '' he says . `` And today , relatively untalented and uncreative people can actually make rock ' n ' roll music that sounds kind of decent . And I think that kind of fools people and causes people to be lazy . '' But for Greenberg there 's also a sense that the `` square pegs '' -- the naturally rebellious types -- are getting shoved in round holes . `` A lot of opportunities inevitably these days go to people who fit the format , whether the format is Top 40 radio or 'American Idol ' or [ Radio ] Disney or whatever it is , '' he says . `` There 's so much pressure to fit those slots . And it 's the square pegs ultimately who are going to change the world . '' The spirited Greenberg wants to channel that rebellious energy . He 's high on a band he signed named Care Bears on Fire , a trio of 13-year-old Brooklyn girls who sound like the Ramones with a touch of Shonen Knife . `` Their attitude is maybe one size does n't fit all , '' he says . `` I feel like the spirit of rock ' n ' roll lives in those guys . ... They 're having fun playing rock ' n ' roll . '' Scott Booker , the manager of the avant-pop band the Flaming Lips ( `` She Do n't Use Jelly , '' `` Do You Realize ? ? `` ) , is also hoping to foster creativity . He 's serving as the CEO of the Academy of Contemporary Music , a music school based at Central Oklahoma University . Drawing from a British concept , the school plans to offer courses in music , music production and the music business , many starting this fall . Booker observes record labels are n't spending as much money on developing talent . He hopes the ACM not only makes bands more signable , but also teaches them business strategies , such as setting up their own label and distribution apparatus . `` This could become a think tank for how the industry could go , '' he says , musing aloud . `` People think of music as a throwaway cultural item [ nowadays ] . I want to change that . ... Make things more exciting . '' Technology , adds BMI executive Phil Graham , can also be rock ' n ' roll 's friend . `` The opportunities the digital world give the population as a whole to throw their talents to a very wide audience is a very good thing , '' he says . More people have gotten the chance to put their music out there and connect with fellow music lovers , he says . Of course , there are also old-fashioned connections . BMI sponsors dozens of showcases for new acts ; young bands play clubs and hawk their CDs ( or Web page ) . Van Zandt welcomes the efforts , but hopes there 's also a connection to rock ' n ' roll history . He 's founded a Rock and Roll Forever Foundation to foster music education in schools . ( To its credit , the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has similar programs . ) `` The spark comes from whatever people are into these days -- and that very well may be 'American Idol , ' `` he says . `` You start with whatever singer you 're rooting for , and you start to trace back where they come from . It 's up to the artists themselves to make sure that their fans know where they 're coming from , to make it clear that music does n't fall off trees . ''
Steven Van Zandt : Bands are n't woodshedding , are n't learning rock ' n ' roll history . Record label head : ` ` square up ultimately who are going to change the world '' Ways to counter technology : Use technology wisely , believe in history .