Paul Simon will be a ‘footnote’ alongside Bob Dylan, says NBC writer

Paul Simon it will be a name forgotten in history books when scholars look back on 20th century music and see only Bob Dylan and the Beatles standing – that’s the polarizing view of an NBC writer, anyway.

Jeff Slate – a New York-based composer and journalist – wrote a controversial piece for NBC Think … titled, “Paul Simon has sold his catalog to Sony for millions. It will still end up being a historic footnote for Dylan.” In fact … it is triggering.

His subtitle says: “He was a prolific composer with a lucrative catalog that any corporation would be happy to monetize. But there are only a few names that our descendants will learn.”

We know, we know … you are already smoking. This is exactly what the internet is doing and jumps in defense of the PS.

You can read Slate’s full overview – which is about how Dylan recently sold his music catalog and rights to UMG for $ 400 million, and how Simon followed in his footsteps doing the same with Sony for his rights – but the gist here it is … Paul Simon will be a “competitor” compared to BD when it’s all said and done.

In Slate’s opinion, Dylan may be alone with John, Paulo, George and Ringo and how the prominent folk / rock artists of the 60s / 70s – and what artists like Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and others will fall by the wayside, especially among younger and more ordinary listeners.

This seems to be what Slate is aiming for – and of course, MANY people disagree … with some arguing that Simon is as prolific and culturally impactful as Dylan has ever been. We don’t have to enter an irritating contest … the two guys have a lot of credits as songwriters and hits. Of course, you can argue that Dylan is perhaps the better known of the two.