Glycopeptide antibiotics containing a hydrophobic substituent display the best activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and they have been assumed to be poor inducers of the resistance system. Using a panel of 26 glycopeptide derivatives and the model resistance system in Streptomyces coelicolor, we confirmed this hypothesis at the level of transcription. Identification of the structural glycopeptide features associated with inducing the expression of resistance genes has important implications in the search for more effective antibiotic structures.