NEW YORK (AP) — He's rock royalty and likes to keep it old-school: Keith Richards says he doesn't own an iPod.

The Rolling Stones guitarist says he isn't a fan of the ultra-popular music device.

"I don't have an iPod. ... I still use CDs or records actually. Sometimes cassettes. It has much better sound; a much better sound than digital," he said in a recent interview.

The 69-year-old believes music lovers are "all being shortchanged" with the sound that comes out of an iPod, launched in 2001.

"My old lady's got one. My kids have got them. I say, 'Look me up this.' Or, 'Oh I like that. Check me that,'" he said. "I know what these things can do. I'm not totally anti-them."

The Rolling Stones' "50 & Counting Tour" kicks off Friday in Los Angeles. The Stones released their self-titled debut in 1964, and while Richards has accepted that the music industry is digitally driven today, he's not completely OK with it.

"They're sucked into it and they can't get out of it, nor can we; so is the public," he said. "There's something missing there, but it's the price of the future I guess."