Rock is dead

According to Simmons rock is finally dead. Great interview here to pour over
http://www.esquire.com/_mobile/blogs/culture/gene-simmons-future-of-rock

Is he right? Is the new downloading and file sharing killing the industry?
I think it's possible.

Horizons wrote: No he's an idiot.

Only thing dead is mediocre cheesy 80s rock like Kiss

Simmons has a point, but he's unable to recognize the implications of his observations because he can't see beyond his own nose.  As a veteran rocker entrenched in the mainstream music industry and all of its trappings, Simmons justifiably looks at what the industry has become and concludes that it is no longer funds and promotes real talent but rather a homogenized, emasculated, and mass-produced parody of its former output.

What Simmons doesn't recognize is that the music has outlived the industry, that there are hundreds if not thousands of great rock bands in the world today making music in smaller markets (either local bands or touring bands who play at smaller venues for smaller crowds) and who now have a global forum for their music in the internet, allowing them to be heard by practically anyone in the world.  This is going on right under Simmons' nose and he doesn't even realize it, poor guy. 

And if he thinks that he and his band were the cream of the crop talent of his day who got picked out of the pile by the record industry solely based upon the quality of their music, he is very sadly deluded indeed.

Ancient Chinese saying:  Gene Simmons sees no further than the tip of his nose. 

As CPicard said above me, Gene Simmons hasn't really said anything new. 

Whether you like Kiss or not, they were kings of marketing, founding fathers of shock rock, and part of the original American brand of Heavy Metal.  They have a legion of fans known as the Kiss Army, and they made millions of dollars selling rock albums and touring the world playing rock concerts.  Their albums definitely don't sell in the quantities that they used to, but that is more to the lack of interest of younger crowds, as well as the lack of interest from Kiss fans who want to hear Dynasty revisited, not Revenge revisited.  Sure there are still artists out there who are "successful" and creating masterpieces that are bought by 500 of their closest friends and family members, but if your goal is to be a true rock star and live the rock star million dollar life style, you can pretty much forget about it.  A fan who is happy with your music, but doesn't pay for your downloads, may still be a fan, and count as a success, but it doesn't put food on the musicians table, nor coke up his nose.


Edited by rushfan4 - September 09 2014 at 14:19

This is what I consider the best answer for this total nonsense (Rock is dead), even though it's from another thread:
 

Atavachron wrote: When you consider a band like AC/DC to this day still captures teenagers' attention and sound exactly the same now as at their peak of popularity, there must be something to a quality of sound that is timelessly appealing and universally satisfying.   You can't kill rock 'n roll, indeed.

The T wrote: A racist, sexist, moronic idiot like Gene Simmons has as much credibility in declaring the death of rock as a pineapple. In fact I'd trust the talking fruit much quicker than the talking tool.

You said it all mate

Rock is alive and well, nowadays with a zillion portals, the paradox is you need to drill down cos there is now SO much more Rock/Music outthere. It requires more filtering to find it, which does not make the music any less appealing. Quite satisfying when you find the bands. Rock is very much alive! Different demographics nowadays and probs twice as many people on the planet than in 1970+, more musicians, more listeners

Edited by Chris S - September 11 2014 at 05:05