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Gene Simmons Says Rock Isn't Just Dead, ‘It Was Murdered’ by File Sharing
yahoo.com ^ | September 6, 2014 | Greg Gilman

Posted on 09/07/2014 2:09:28 PM PDT by BBell

Gene Simmons not only thinks rock music is dead, it was “murdered” by the internet and the “entitled” Americans using it to steal music.

The KISS bassist, who is arguably one of the most successful living rock stars in the history of music, blames file sharing for the death of one of America's most beloved musical genres during a recent Esquire interview conducted by his son, Nick.

(Excerpt) Read more at celebrity.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: genesimmons; kiss
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IMHO there is very little real talent left in popular music. The music industry can make a star out of anyone (think Disney).

My Daughters has you tube videos of people from all over the world who are truly talented but will never see the inside of a studio. A good number of the local bands where I am at are very good yet no one outside of this area will ever hear of them.

1 posted on 09/07/2014 2:09:28 PM PDT by BBell
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To: BBell
"... “murdered” by the internet and the “entitled” Americans using it to steal music."

But somehow Katy Perry and Lady Gaga can make a living?

2 posted on 09/07/2014 2:15:04 PM PDT by Flag_This (You can't spell "treason" without the "O".)
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To: BBell

File sharing is different from YouTube watching and listening.

YouTube at least makes the smallest fee available to the artists, while wholesale copying proves nothing to the artist.


3 posted on 09/07/2014 2:15:31 PM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: BBell

My wife was just asking about what rock had evolved into since the Grunge era. Neither of us could really identify a group or movement that really defines it today.

I don’t think file sharing really had a hand in it. It boils down to nothing that really has captured the imagination.


4 posted on 09/07/2014 2:16:15 PM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: ConservativeMind

That should read, “provides,” not “proves.”


5 posted on 09/07/2014 2:16:55 PM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: BBell

I remember when rockers bitched about people who taped their songs off the radio.


6 posted on 09/07/2014 2:17:58 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: ConservativeMind

I’ve bought “The Best of Three Dog Night” for times: Once in vinyl, an eight-track, a cassette tape, and a CD. That’s enough. I ain’t paying royalties again.


7 posted on 09/07/2014 2:18:06 PM PDT by abb ("News reporting is too important to be left to the journalists." Walter Abbott (1950 -))
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To: abb

should be “four” times


8 posted on 09/07/2014 2:18:32 PM PDT by abb ("News reporting is too important to be left to the journalists." Walter Abbott (1950 -))
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To: abb
And you shouldn't—you can make as many of your own copies as you want for yourself. Make your MP3s with abandon.

I believe the issue here is that people are giving free copies to others.

9 posted on 09/07/2014 2:20:41 PM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: BBell

It was murdered by the suits. They did it numerous times. Rock and roll has probably “died” more times than Little Richard has retired (going back to 1957).


10 posted on 09/07/2014 2:22:07 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (ISIS has started up a slave trade in Iraq. Mission accomplshed, Barack, Mission accomplished.)
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To: BBell

Bad music and idiots wearing spandex hopping around on stage killed rock.


11 posted on 09/07/2014 2:22:49 PM PDT by Henry Hnyellar
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To: Flag_This

If you consider Katy “I kissed a girl” Perry and Lady “will do anything for attention” Gaga Rock and Roll then I guess they made it.


12 posted on 09/07/2014 2:22:54 PM PDT by BBell (I'm cynical and sarcastic and therefore I love Ann Coulter)
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To: Flag_This

It used to be that concert tours were promoted by record companies to sell records and get them played on air, which was where the real money was. Now records are put out to promote concert tours, and that’s where the real money is. Say, 10,000 tickets at $70 a pop average, 700K gross for a couple of hours. Times 50 tour dates, that’s 35 million in a couple months.


13 posted on 09/07/2014 2:23:02 PM PDT by Hugin ("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!")
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To: BBell
I know teenagers who do not listen to music much at all. Except as background noise. Sitting and listening? Going to a concert? Paying for any of this????? No reason to make the effort -- that's not just my opinion; that's their opinion..

The music industry pretty much lost a generation, I think.

14 posted on 09/07/2014 2:23:43 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("Harvey Dent, can we trust him?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBsdV--kLoQ)
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To: BBell

Hey Gene,

I taped TONS of LP’s from my friends in the 70’s/80’s.

Did blank cassettes KILL rock???

OR maybe technology is being blamed for corporate music labels being greedy by dropping any group that doesn’t sell 10 million units on their debut while charging fans 18 bucks for a 10 cent CD???


15 posted on 09/07/2014 2:24:18 PM PDT by Le Chien Rouge
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To: BBell

Bull.

Some bands upload their music for FREE on soundcloud and pack clubs every place they go. It’s the new way music is shared.


16 posted on 09/07/2014 2:25:13 PM PDT by struggle
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To: Fresh Wind

I remember those days. I made copies off the radio because I could not afford the albums. Not to mention why blow all my money on one album for only a couple of songs.


17 posted on 09/07/2014 2:25:42 PM PDT by BBell (I'm cynical and sarcastic and therefore I love Ann Coulter)
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To: Le Chien Rouge

Zappa explains it all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZazEM8cgt0


18 posted on 09/07/2014 2:28:14 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("Harvey Dent, can we trust him?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBsdV--kLoQ)
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To: BBell
I don't know.

I think Rock hasn't died. It's just that the vein is tapped out. Everything that could be said was said over the 35 years or so that it was the number one expression of the experience of youth in western industrialized societies.

There's a British rocker named Steven Wilson who - IMHO - creates music in an idiom similar to that of The Who. Have you ever heard of him? A lot of his music is available on YouTube.

He's a successful musician in his own right, but he's not very influential because he's just too late on the scene with what he does.

No one has really figured out where the "thing" that Rock expressed goes next.

Personally, I think that there's a lot of untapped potential in the struggle against Islam, a force that enslaves hundreds of millions of people all over the world, and which is attempting to put the collar of slavery around the neck of the entire human race.

Only problem is, such music would place a bull's eye on the forehead of everyone who was involved in producing it.

19 posted on 09/07/2014 2:30:41 PM PDT by Steely Tom (How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
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To: abb

And now, if you buy files off of a service like iTunes, you don’t own anything except a license to play it on whatever device you happen to have.

You can’t legally resell it, give it away, or bequeath it to your heirs.

Records, 8-tracks, cassettes, and CDs don’t require you to click to accept a user agreement.

I confess-I’ve downloaded songs off of YouTube, the vast majority of which I already own in vinyl form. I don’t see why I should have to pay again just to save myself the trouble of hooking up the cables and transferring the songs to my computer.

But rest assured, Mr. Kiss, I’ve never purchased or downloaded any of your songs, nor do I ever plan to.


20 posted on 09/07/2014 2:31:26 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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