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Download headliners Kiss: 'Fans have killed the record industry'

Gene Simmonds says band won't release new songs until downloading stops

June 17, 2008 | 21 Comments
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Download festival headliners Kiss, who played the top spot at the festival last Friday (June 13), have declared that the record industry is "dead".

Bassist Gene Simmonds explained that his band were refusing to record new material until illegal downloading ceases, calling the act of downloading "uncivilised".

"The record industry is dead," the Daily Star reported the singer saying. "It's six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this.

"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 civilised. As soon as the record industry pops its head up we'll record new material."

Singer Paul Stanley went on to defend the band's policy of only playing old hits live. "With any classic band that hits the road, the last thing you want to hear is their new songs," he said. "Trends come, fashion comes. But we don't go away. We're like herpes."

Watch the press conference where these quotes came from below now.

cultureslut87

Jun 17, 2008

We're like herpes"= irritating and hard to get rid of? Christ stop being so childish! You're rich already, ridiculously rich because of all your merchandise! I doubt Kiss would even notice the change in their income due to their records being downloaded due to the ammount of money they already have rolling in. They have said before in early interviews that they enjoy playing music but are all about the money and always were so i'm not suprised they're kicking up a fuss about free downloads. Times they are a'changing grandpa, get used to it

ndjxh16

Jun 17, 2008

Oh Boo Hoo Kiss have said they are not making any more records because of downloading, this is the same band who openly said that they were not gonna make any new music "cos people only wanna hear the old stuff". Downloading is a part of life now and people have to get used to it, its never gonna be stopped, Bands should make the most of the increased opportunities it gives them and embrace not shun it. people have been copying music for decades, i know my home taping collection in the early 90's was equally as impressive as anything i have downloded yet nobody complained then. Maybe if the markups on CD's were not so huge then people would buy more pysical releases. Shops like Fopp are havens for picking up cd's for under a fiver so if they can do it why cant the so called market leaders in the High Streey embrace that. Maybe if Kiss charged less for thier gigs people could afford to by the cd's.

Del Gland

Jun 17, 2008

Err no. I think the corporations that want to round up and promote their artists for extortionate prices at their own venues are the real villains here. Having paid Â£130 for a very patchy lineup at Download that did not deliver a value for money lineup, can you really expect me to pop into a large record store and pay Â£13 for an old Kiss CD. The disposable income is just not there anymore. I agree that downloading illegaly is not the answer but the onus is on the music industry to provide the product at a price that is acceptable.I wonder how much KISS were paid as headliners last weekend. As I mentioned above, the overall Download lineup was very poor as far as big names are concerned. Thank God for some of the small unknown bands who were probably paid a pittance if they didn't have to pay themselves to play for it was these guys that made the weekend bearable for me.

smiller836

Jun 17, 2008

What a fool, without the fan's there wouldn't be a music industry at all. "We're going to wait until everybody settles down and becomes civilised" Guess that means no more KISS records, oh well no big loss!

flumphert

Jun 17, 2008

Kiss won't release any new material because they're not fucking able to. The Kiss hay day was in the 70's. And pretty much 75-80% of the stuff they play live is from they're 70's albums. Fact is that most Kiss stuff from the 80's and 90's is shite. No doubt anything released in the 00's would be fucking shocking. So Gene & Paul, shut the fuck up and hurry into retirement ya pair of wrinkly old cocks.

newlife

Jun 17, 2008

New material? Don't make me laugh.Thank god for illegal downloading and that no one on this planet has to hear any new stuff from this bunch of freaking clowns!

jeffn

Jun 17, 2008

What a load of rubbish! Fans are reclaiming the music from the music industry - Illegal downloads are unfortunate, but they have been forced by the leech-like majors whose attitudes are not compatible with the internet music revolution. If KISS want to stop illegals downloads they should release their new music through fan led internet sites like CherryEcho.com and slicethepie.com, and sellaband

nahnahnah

Jun 17, 2008

Thanks christ... if only other equally shit, past-it poodle rockers would stop releasing their terrible records the world would be a better place.

xraybaby

Jun 17, 2008

let's hope and pray the world keeps downloading and maybe these spandexed wankers with girls make up will crawl into a corner and die quietly.

wonkeykong

Jun 17, 2008

the fans ARE the music industry. apart from us its just a bunch of corporations with no market.and it shows where their priorities are.....real bands will be happy just recording the music and putting it out there, they will always shift some legit copies and earn a bomb from the tour. a good album will still sell, but we all know you're not capable of recording a blinder

Ciarán

Jun 17, 2008

hehehe, the irony of them headlining Download

Love will Tear us Apart

Jun 17, 2008

I'm with Kiss, get rid of downloads and downloading, they sound rubbish, souless, stick to cd's vinyl, something you can hold, touch.

bruised_blood

Jun 17, 2008

Yay! No more Kiss albums.... thank christ for that!

mAttthhheaLy

Jun 17, 2008

so, if I download, then kiss stop making music?is that meant to be a threat or a reward?music should not be regarded as an industry - it should be an art form, just as paintings or sculptures because it's just as important, if not more, culturally

benjiryder

Jun 17, 2008

this reminds me of the south park episode about illegal downloading. Gene can't go on holidays to hawaii if people download his music. He can hardly make a moral stand when he sells his soul for a reality tv show. He looks like he's pretty broke in that!

jorges

Jun 17, 2008

Another positive result of p2p...first the greedy labels and now a greedy shitty band. I hope they fall off the face of the earth.

a55h01e

Jun 17, 2008

Thanks for the tip Gene, I'm gonna begin downloading immediately and never stop! Funny, you've seen yourself as such an amazing businessman for so long, with all your piles of money and your little KISS industry, but in fact you're not very good at it at all, because the record industry is indeed dead, and you're unable to keep your own interests in that end of things from dying right along with the rest of the greedbags. As for the reality television, give up already, you're not even close to being as entertaining as the Osbournes, sorry. Now, as you wish you could still say, "kiss THIS".

GonePhysco

Jun 17, 2008

Usually I would be against illegally downloading but in this case KEEP DOWNLOADING!

diva_chic_mandy

Jun 17, 2008

That's not much of a threat...

randomgirl666

Jun 18, 2008

I love Kiss, but all that condom-free sex has clearly led to STDs that have addled Gene Simmons' brain. He is richer than God from all the Kiss merchanise available, but if he wants more money he should try getting a fair deal from the record company, not criticising fans. I would never have bought "Destroyer" if I hadn't gotten hooked on "Detroit Rock City" after illegally downloading it.