Gene Simmons, the legendary founding member, and bassist for KISS, was recently interviewed on Larry King Now. Here, he discusses with fill-in host Dennis Miller if streaming is good for the music industry as a whole and Simmons replies with a story from when Radiohead released their 2007 studio album entitled – In Rainbows, which had a unique marketing strategy of “pay what you will.” Gene Simmons recently forget words onstage in this sad video.
Simmons told the show the following:
“My heart goes out and I’ve said this about ten years ago. This is when streaming, downloading and all of that stuff was for free. Radiohead who bears noting tried to a brand new record and said to their fans: “pay whatever you will.” It’s interesting to note that it hasn’t been done since because it doesn’t work. If you leave the doors open in the supermarket and say “pay what you want.” People will just go in and pay nothing.”
Simmons would later continue:
“It doesn’t work because people rather get stuff for free. My heart goes out to new bands because there is so much good talent out there that will never get a chance. I mean, right now in the zeitgeist. [Gene points to his head.] they think: “Okay, the music industry, I get on ‘X-Factor’ or ‘The Voice’, I sing and then I have a career. They have no idea what it means.”
KISS fans debated if there ever be a rock band like KISS or will “rock ever be popular again” in a recent KISSfaq.com topic.
Gene Simmons daughter revealed this ‘Overweight’ video a couple of days ago. Bruce butted in with: “As near as I can make out, there’s always going to be a niche market for rock music, just as there remains a niche market for vinyl records, even to this day. It will also continue to be sampled and ripped off by generations of “musicians” to come. And who knows what that could lead to, one day in the far-flung future? Perhaps a rock n roll renaissance, as guitars never go out of style.”
LordThurisaz replied: “Rock is popular if you’re aging and the artists themselves are aging. The boomer generation of rock bands, to be blunt, need to die off because they refuse to retire. Once they do, I think after about ten years, rock music will have a resurgence, though it may or may not be in the same vein. That said ticket prices are as big a reason as any as to why rock is dead (and it is, folks) as are the reunions, greatest hits tours and fortieth anniversary tours. All of that has driven young fans away by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Gene Simmons savagely called out a KISS ‘fraud’ earlier this month.
