Jack White: I'm not a sound-bite artist

In this week's Billboard cover story rock legend Jack White opens up about not being a "sound-bite artist", how the media thrives on embarrassment and why vinyl records are "hypnotic".

​One of the last true rock stars -- a guitar hero who fills arenas with high-volume rewirings of blues-based music, classic pop and country -- White has sold more than 7 million albums with The White Stripes, ​ ​ The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs and on his own, and earned the ability to do things his way.

"I'm in a sound-bite era, and I don't talk like a sound-bite artist," he says. "I never hear anybody say anything about me when they watch a videotaped interview. When they read an article that takes sound bites and [makes] click bait out of it, that's when they get complaining on me."

​White continues to share his thoughts on the media, which he feels thrives on other people's embarrassment.

​"Type in someone's name on YouTube, a lot of what comes up is someone falls down, someone blows up, someone fumbles the ball. That's what people want. And I'm in the wrong era for that."

​Lastly, he discusses his preference for vinyl - calling it "the movie theater compared to the iPhone."​ It's less about sound quality than aura -- vinyl provides a focus, a ritual.

"You're reverential to it. With vinyl, you're on your knees. You're at the mercy of the needle. You watch the record spin and it's like you're sitting around a campfire. It's hypnotic."