The music industry is suffering, and it's all because of those darn fans. Er, what? It turns out that KISS member Gene Simmons believes exactly that. He claims that piracy is to blame for the industry's woes, and KISS is apparently taking its ball and going home until the situation gets under control.
"The record industry is dead. It's six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this," Simmons said, according to AOL News. "They've decided to download and file share. There is no record industry around so we're going to wait until everybody settles down and becomes civilized. As soon as the record industry pops its head up we'll record new material."
It's never a smart move to blame your loyal and devoted fans for the injustices of the world, but Simmons seems to think that his fans (unlike everyone else's) would rather steal from the band than continue paying for music they enjoy. Simmons also thinks bands that encourage the public to download their music for free (such as Radiohead with its famed In Rainbows experiment) are only making the situation worse, despite the fact that Radiohead has made a nice chunk of change from the In Rainbows release so far.
Simmons' latest comments come just over six months after his previous rant about the music industry, wherein he told Billboard, "Every little college kid, every freshly-scrubbed little kid's face should have been sued off the face of the earth." At that time, he blamed the record industry for letting foxes into the henhouse (presumably by allowing DRM-free music to be sold online, or perhaps any music at all to be sold online). "Doesn't affect me. But imagine being a new band with dreams of getting on stage and putting out your own record. Forget it," he said.
So, does this apparently rampant piracy problem affect Simmons or not? His comments between last November and now seem to contradict each other a bit, although they clearly share the same underlying sentiment: anger. Simmons might want to reconsider speaking for anyone but himself, though. Many young and independent bands are able to enjoy success on and off the stage, all while selling their music online. As part of an upcoming feature we're doing on indie bands and online music, one band told us that its members believe that P2P is all part of the ecosystem, and that they even saw increased sales after their album showed up on Bit Torrent.
The sad part is that Simmons' continued comments aren't going to cause anyone (fans or not) to have an epiphany and quit their P2P-slingin' ways. In fact, it may have the opposite effect—the clear disdain in his words may well drive some of KISS' fans away. The only thing Simmons is doing by lashing out at fans is earning him a reputation as a curmudgeonly artist unwilling to adapt to a changing music landscape.
fuente: arstechnica.com
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