The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett says social media is turning music into “fast food”The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett has likened our consumption of music to fast food, noting how there’s less time afforded to artists to be able to develop before people’s attention moves onto the next thing.
The Prodigy played a mighty set at Glastonbury this summer, and are due to head out on tour in April 2026. According to Howlett, there’s even new music due for release next year too. Having started out in the 1990s, crafting music was a long-form art during the formative years of The Prodigy, and Howlett now fears that listeners have less patience, and creators are having to chop, cut, and condense to meet demands.

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Speaking to Mixmag, Howlett explains, “The main thing that concerns me is making sure my beats bang. There are artists and tunes I hear today that buzz me yeah, but the problem is they mostly don’t hang around long enough. There seems to be less time and patience now for artists to develop. It’s social media again to blame, turning music into fast food… Quick in and gone…Next…”
Further speaking on the other elephant in the room when it comes to digital progression, Howlett also shares his views on AI: “A good mate, who is a well-known producer/DJ is all over this AI shit, he’s been fucking with it for a while. Mainly on the visual side… Seeing how far he can push it. The stuff he showed me blew my mind, some mad shit.”
He adds, “Me personally, as far as using AI for music, I much prefer putting my brain through the ‘sometimes’ pain and torture of hand building the tune myself. Some tunes feel like I’m carving them out of stone sometimes because they take so long, but at least I know I did it myself… Know what I mean?”

The Prodigy’s legendary frontman Keith Flint sadly passed away back in 2019, and it took the rest of the group some time before they could even think about making music or putting on shows again. After a small taster tour back in 2022, and their colossal festival sets this summer, they’re making a mighty comeback.
Their upcoming arena tour across the UK and Ireland was their fastest-ever sold-out run of shows, and they also have four Warrior’s Dance events scheduled in summer 2026 for Dublin, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, and Manchester. Howlett feels their live shows have a different level of intimacy following Flint’s death.
“When we play live now — and I’ll try and explain this — the band feels like it somehow has an extra level of emotional depth and connection to the people… And I don’t want that to sound like some hippy shit. I’m just telling you how it feels being on stage playing the tunes, looking at the whites in the people’s eyes and their reaction… Uplifting and pure chaos,” he says.
You can get tickets for The Prodigy’s Warrior’s Dance events via their official website. 
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