The British music industry is going through a “weird phase”, according to pop supremo Pete Waterman.

The hit-making record producer, who has scored number ones with various acts including Kylie Minogue, said he has noticed there seems to be more focus on the technology, rather than on the music.

Waterman, 68, also said he liked “some” of the music by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, and ruled out a return to television as a talent show judge.

Ed Sheeran
Pete Waterman likes some of Ed Sheeran’s music (Joel Ryan/AP)

Speaking about the British music industry, he said: “It’s interesting. I think it’s going through a weird phase. I think it goes through these phases every six to seven years.”

Asked to explain what he meant by “weird”, Waterman said: “Certainly I’ve noticed for the last five or six years people haven’t talked about music, they’ve talked about the technology. They’ve talked about the live gigs. Well live gigs are not about, you know, record sales. They’re about live gigs, which is very different.”

He added: “When I joined the industry … 15,000 people in it. I bet you there’s not 1500 now. I’m not anti-technology, I love technology, in fact that’s how I made my money.

“But what I’ve never allowed technology to do is take away my interest in the music, because at the end of the day a great song’s a great song.”

Pete Waterman
Pete Waterman thinks good songs are still what count when it comes to chart success (Yui Mok/PA)

He remarked that vinyl is selling in “vast numbers” again, and said people are now used to the digital age, adding that Smash Hits magazine and local radio was the social media of 30 years ago.

“There’s quite a few groups I actually like, so it’s not all bad news,” he said, adding that he likes “bits” of everything.

“I like some of Ed Sheeran. I don’t like all of Ed Sheeran, but I like some of Ed Sheeran. I like some of Taylor Swift. I don’t like all of Taylor Swift. And there are lots of good things around, you know. And I think we’re getting sort of back where we used to be with lots of different sorts of things going on at once,” he said.

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift (John Shearer/Invision)

Waterman, who was a judge on both Pop Idol and Popstars: The Rivals which started the career of Girls Aloud, ruled out a return to a judging panel.

“No, not now, not now, not unless we sort of went back to the music side. If we went back to the music side yeah, but while it’s all about, you know, other things, I’m not…,” he said.

Asked to elaborate on “other things”, he said: “You know the people dressed up as bananas, and my granny met me on the way here, all that sort of stuff.”

Waterman said if he had been told back in 2002 that TV talent shows would still be popular in 2015 he would have “laughed”.