Dave Davies of the Kinks has criticized singing competition shows like The X Factor for stifling creativity.

He unloaded on the format in an interview with Standard Online.

"The whole point of being a creative person is to try and develop your own talent and how to express yourself.

When you're told 'Oh you should do that because Simon Cowell will like that' it's very questionable.

Art shouldn't be based on painting by numbers or doing what someone says you should do. It's an expression of yourself, not of a voting system," said Davies.

"It ceases to be art it's just fodder - it's not even music really - it's killed the spirit of people's genuine motivation to create art.

It's like working in a factory. It must be really tough for struggling artists."

Davies is currently on tour behind his latest album, a live LP called Rippin Up New York, recorded at NYC's City Winery.