Gene Simmons states that the next great artist or band will never get a chance

Gene Simmons states that the next great artist or band will never get a chance

KISS bassist, singer and co-founder Gene Simmons was recently interviewed by Music Radar on the occasion of the release of his box set The Vault.

Simmons spoke about the changed music industry and not feeling motivated to create new music because of it. The bassist stated:

“Creating new music so people can download and file-share it for free does not appeal to me in the least… The system is broken and artists are getting screwed. My heart breaks because the new talent out there will never get the chance that we had. They’re giving away songs for a hundredth of a penny, if anything, and people will share it and share it, paying nothing…. It doesn’t affect me – I make a living, but the next great artist or band will never get a chance. They will have to work during the daytime, doing music as a hobby – that’s unfortunate. The only answer is legislation; laws have to be passed to protect what we work for…”

In terms of jamming with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry back in 1978, Simmons advised: Mongoloid Man is a recording from 1978 with Joe Perry on guitar…. I was out with Aerosmith, we were having dinner in Los Angeles and had to excuse myself at one point. Joe asked, ‘Hey man, where are you going?’ and I explained I had to go finish this song I had been working on. He said he’d love to come along, so I invited him down and he jammed away on this track.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Simmons at Music Radar.