Jack White says illegal downloading is ruining “the romance” of music.

The Raconteurs, White Stripes and Dead Weather star - who has just launched his own online music service, The Vault - insists obtaining tracks without permission is ruining the music industry.

“A quick look at sales figures for albums will show anyone with a brain that there’s no doubt the world has collectively decided that there is nothing wrong with taking music for free and feeling no moral conundrum about it,” White said to the BBC Newsbeat.

“Download culture isn’t a very romantic experience for the fan regarding art, it cheapens it and makes it fast forwardable, and disposable, and a lot of times ignorable. That’s a shame for a lot of art and music that isn’t getting the chance that it would if people just left the needle on the record till the end of the side or what have you.”

Despite his views, Jack insists he wouldn’t force them on other people and believes it is his duty to supply fans with the formats they prefer. He added, “I’m not a big fan of a lot of these toys actually, but I never like to tell people who want to share the music I create how they can get it. It doesn’t matter to me if they want an MP3 or an 8-track tape. It’s the artists duty to work with the listener as much as possible, we are in the art form together.”