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Gene Simmons Blames College Kids For Music Industry Woes

drcagn writes "Gene Simmons has blasted 'college' kids and claims that they have destroyed the music industry, with the labels also to blame for not properly suing them out of existence when they had the chance. When asked about Radiohead and Trent Reznor's recent support of a different direction in music distribution, he says "that's not a business model that works. I open a store and say 'Come on in and pay whatever you want.' Are you on f---ing crack?" When asked about music being free and making money off of merchandise, he says, "The most important part is the music. Without that, why would you care?" even though earlier in the interview he brags that he believes that KISS's merchandise is more profitable than Elvis's or the Beatles.'"

24 of 860 comments (clear)

  1. Well, he's over 40. by istartedi · · Score: 5, Funny

    "If you're not a Liberal when you're 18 you have no heart. If you're not a Conservative by the time you're 40, you have no brain." --Winston Churchill (at least according to the first Google hit I found).

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Well, he's over 40. by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah. I signed up for that. Far worse experience than Radiohead though. I never got the email with the download link. On NIN's website Trent had posted an address to email if you heard nothing, so I wrote... And heard nothing again. So thought "Fuck it", went to Demonoid, downloaded the torrent. Listened to bits of the album, thought "This is crap" and didn't bother keeping it. (Should have known I wouldn't like it. I thought Saul's NIN remixes were crap.)

      So technically I infringed copyright to get something I had legally signed up to receive. Figure the legal ramifications of THAT one out!:)

    2. Re:Well, he's over 40. by Heir+Of+The+Mess · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, my Taiwanese wife recently picked up a pink Kiss T-Shirt at a market with a picture of the 4 band members from the 70s. I asked her if she liked their music....Confusion followed...She thought they were an Anime cartoon :-/

      --
      Australian running a company that does C# / C++ / Java / SQL / Python / Mathematica
    3. Re:Well, he's over 40. by lahvak · · Score: 2, Funny

      Who in the hell is Gene Simmons, anyway? Never heard about the guy.

      --
      AccountKiller
  2. Are you on f---ing crack? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because Gene Simmons certainly is.

  3. Krispy Kreme and ol' Gene by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's clear what Gene Simmons' priorities are.
    Oh, besides being a greedy bastard.

    Disclaimer: I do not read EW -- I just remembered that quote from a guitar magazine awhile back ;)

  4. From the department of redundancy department by AcidPenguin9873 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Seriously. There is a story about this on Slashdot at least every other day with no actual new legal/economic/industry developments, resulting in the exact same comments and arguments rehashed. Yes, I know I can just ignore it. Yes, I must be new here. But what's wrong with some constructive criticism of Slashdot?

    FWIW I think the only way we'll see the stories disappear is if we stop reading and commenting on them (which means /. loses ad revenue and will stop posting them).

    1. Re:From the department of redundancy department by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 5, Funny

      This one is slightly different

      Standard /. story goes Senior record company exec doesn't understand how the world is changing

      This story is Burnt out, over the hill musician doesn't understand how the world is changing

      --
      init 11 - for when you need that edge.
    2. Re:From the department of redundancy department by whogben · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'll support you in your campaign not to post on this topic - here I am matching your commitment, comrade!

  5. Pity he's not writing any new music by ElMiguel · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would have enjoyed a few KISS songs on how The Man is being let down by "college kids". "Obey the law or be sued" would make for a catchy refrain.

  6. Re:Music's dead? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Fuck music! Money is what we want!

  7. why do where care about Gene Simmons? by freedom_surfer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Gene Simmons also advocates public executions for drugs. If it weren't for drugs how could half his fans endure his music?

  8. Gene Simmons? by damburger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Seeing as how my first thought on reading the summary was 'who is gene simmons', I think its fairly safe to say the final score is:

    College Kids 1, Retarded Old Drag Queen 0.

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  9. Re:"I was made for suing you baby..." by turing_m · · Score: 3, Funny

    God gave rock 'n' roll to everyone... except for college students, who are crooks.

    --
    If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
  10. Fine and sue all nite by Nazlfrag · · Score: 5, Funny

    You torrent everything we've got
    You keep downloading and your disk gets hot
    You drive us wild, we'll go sue crazy

    We'll twist the facts till they go in a spin
    The lawsuits just begun, we'll get you in
    You drive us wild, we'll go sue crazy

    You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day
    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day
    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day
    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day

    We keep on saying you'll be fined in a while
    Smoking crack and opening shops just ain't my style
    You drive us wild, we'll go sue crazy

    Our lawyers demand everything you've got
    Baby, baby thats quite a lot
    And you drive us wild, we'll go sue crazy

    You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day
    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day
    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day
    I wanna obey the law all night, and not get sued every day

  11. Re:Music's dead? by hoopshank · · Score: 3, Funny
    "2 boxed sets of unreleased music - at best second rate crap that was not good enough to put out the first time"


    No, the stuff Kiss and Simmons put out first time was 'second rate crap that was not good enough to put out the first time'. These box sets are surely third rate crap that it would have been criminal to put out the first time.

  12. Ah, Gene Simmons. Such a noble creature. by Zeriel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just because Gene Simmons can lick his own ass while playing guitar, he thinks he's qualified to comment on anything else?

    --
    "America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
  13. Grab your boots! by StealthPanda · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think he got so angry that he might have dribbled a bit over the top of his Depends®.

  14. Re:He's right though by untaken_name · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, Gene Simmons is right, sorta, when he points out the core issue:

            The only reason why gold is expensive is because we all agree that it is. There's no real use for it, except we all agree and abide by the idea that gold costs a certain amount per ounce. As soon as you give people the choice to deviate from it, you have chaos and anarchy.


    No, he isn't. Gold has utility beyond holding arbitrary worth. It's responsible for jacking up the price of certain cables by 1000% for its presence on connectors. It's also GREAT for plating things with. Plus, it's really dense so it's good for throwing at stuff, too. Plus it's really useful for making idols out of. AND you can look really cool when you get a gold coin and you bite it to make sure it's real. So I have to take exception to Mr. Simmons' words here and to your endorsement of them. Since I can't disagree with Mr. Simmons to his face, I'll take it out on you.

  15. Gene Simmons Never Had a Personal Computer... by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 3, Funny

    GENE SIMMONS NEVER HAD A PERSONAL COMPUTER WHEN HE WAS A KID.

    How do we know? We know because our own well-documented research has shown conclusively that a child who lacks his own personal computer during those earliest school years will very probably grow up to be a bass player in a heavy metal rock band who wears women's fishnet pantyhose and sticks his tongue down to his kneecaps. Just like Gene Simmons.

    Your child's future doesn't have to look like this.

    The Banana Junior 6000 Self-portable Personal Computer System, complete with its optional software - Bananawrite, Bananadraw, Bananafile, and Bananamanager - is just what your four-year-old needs to compete in today's cut-throat world of high tech and high expectations.

    The Banana Junior 6000...Buy one before it's too late. Gene's mother wishes she had.

    --
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  16. Re:But they DON'T... :-) by Jaysyn · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ditto, but I'm only 30 so what do I know, right?

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
  17. Knights In Satans Service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Knights In Satans Service ... well *duh* of course they're on the RIAA's side.

  18. Re:But they DON'T... :-) by funkatron · · Score: 2, Funny

    KISS are ok apart from the songs with the words rock and/or roll in them

    --
    "Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
  19. He was NEVER relevant, always about the $ by elrous0 · · Score: 2, Funny
    KISS were a bunch of over-commercialized, over-hyped, over-rated posers from day one. They didn't BECOME about the money. They never WEREN'T about the money.

    This was a band that was putting itself on kid's lunchboxes, launching a cartoon, and putting themselves in comic book form almost from the minute they formed. Gene Simmons has the gall to say "it's about the music" when his band concentrated much more on their marketting and pyrotechnics show than they EVER did their music, and when his whole shtick was to wear stylized makeup and create an on-stage persona that played to lip-synced tracks.

    Who the f**k is he kidding?!?!

    Gene Simmons is just a greedy old fart who is mad than he might take a hit on that monthly royalty check that he so richly undeserves. He's worried he might have to cut back on his "Jewel-Encrusted Ferarri" budget this year.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.