Thoughts about the music business

Drummer Daniel Liljekvist has retired from Katatonia in order to get a regular job and better support his family. That's two for them in the last few months. Rough to be an in-between sized band with decent recognition, but not quite enough pull to headline a medium sized tour.

Shame. Loved his drumming. He was very musical and distinctive.
 
Sebastian Bach is complaining that only a tiny percentage of the people who "liked" his FB announcement about the new solo album actually bought the album. He's also complaining that no one in Skid Row will tour with him even though they could all make a boatload of money. He'd tour with people he hated as long as he made money off of the deal.

George Lynch says that he and the rest of the guys in the band have an album's worth of material they have given to Don Dokken to see if he's interested in recording another Dokken album, but says that Don is insisting he won't cooperate unless he gets a larger percentage since without him the album is only a side project and won't get the exposure or sales it would with him.

Danzig and Jerry Only are fighting in court over the rights to the Misfits logo and "fiend skull," because the Hot Topic kiddies will still buy that shirt to look cool.

Nikki Sixx is taking the Gene Simmons/Paul Stanley tack and trying to feud and gossip his way to publicity. Current targets are Sebastian Bach and Michael Sweet (Stryper). Lots of ghost written books to be sold even if the albums aren't selling.

Meanwhile, as long as they all stagger their reunions so as to not overlap or they package their reunions as a combined tour they will all get more label support than any new band even if they produce one mediocre album every five years as an excuse to hit the road.

A bunch more reasons why I'd rather give money to a new band for a mediocre album than give more money to an old band living off of their back catalog and licensing.
 
For years, the number of albums I have bought by bands whose members' average age is above my own has been near zero. I totally respect and appreciate if someone older comes up with great new material (Tom Fischer's new Triptykon album is a case in point), but why I should give a damn about a has-been like Nikki Sixx is beyond me. :p
 
Sure, what I really meant was "I rarely buy stuff from bands whose members are older farts than I." :D

Actually it seems common enough among folks of our age to glorify the 80s, but personally I don't feel any nostalgia about those years.
 
I've got nothing against the 80s. Lots of good music floating around in that decade. And the college freshman I teach are fascinated by what I tell them teen culture was like when I was their age: teen clubs, MTV, the politics in music, the fashion.

(Okay, I do have something against the 80s: many of the recordings were too overprocessed with chorus and reverb. I can take it in a New Wave or EBM song, but not in guitar rock.)

I even listen to a bit of 80s metal still. Metalheads seem to do a better job of mixing the old and the new than most music sub-cultures. There's a continuity that keeps the scene alive.

What I don't get are the people in their 30s and 40s whose world contracts back to embrace only those things they loved and thought when they were young adults. (I'm old enough now to think that means anything between the ages of 15 and 26.) I don't think anyone should be allowed to have a say in how the world works if they have absolutely nothing to look forward to outside of a grandchild. There's always something new to find if you look, and giving up on looking is giving up on living.
 
Over a month later and still on the same rant...

Kix reunion. Quiet Riot reunion. Exciter reunion. Anselmo and Paul still feuding, but Anselmo angling for a Pantera reunion (that isn't going to happen).

Probably all of these will make more money on a tour than any current bands despite all of them having been inactive for years and having done nothing to deserve any new attention.

The music biz is in such crap shape right now.
 
Hmmm... :/

Here's the Bono link: http://thequietus.com/articles/16217-bono-u2-songs-of-experience

And here's the entire text on Gene Simmons:

GENE SHOULD PUT HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS
10/09/2014 ~ by Alan Niven
Former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven asks: If Gene Simmons cares about rock'n'roll and thinks it's dying, why won't he try and revive it?
Gene Simmons's comments as reported by Andrew Roberts on Uproxx Music are very interesting.

By any measure, Gene is a genius at making a living out of rock'n' roll – seen his house? Oh right, we all have, endlessly, on A&E. Seen his arena football team? Been to see him on the road this summer? Gene certainly knows how to squeeze a dollar out of an image. He reputedly squeezed a million out of registering the Monopoly logo and selling it back to Hasbro. No fool is our Gene.

Now, might I suggest that maybe the 2000 KISS Farewell Tour, that began in Phoenix in March of that year, might possibly have outrun its welcome? Outlived it's ethic?

If it has, that would be a real shame. KISS on the road have the ability to bring along and help develop genuine new talent – like that band of youngsters from the UK, who they brought along this year - what's their name? Oh right, Def Leppard.

Let me get to one observation. One of the many, many, reasons that the music business is in the condition it's in is because of selfish greed. A greed on the part of labels, lawyers, and yes, bands. For one thing, most headliners are completely and solely focussed on maximizing their profits on the road. Have you seen contemporary ticket and merchandise prices?! Gene is not entirely wrong to decry music thieves. But that's only one problem.

Greed is a personal choice and prerogative, but it's a little disingenuous, on the one hand, to complain that downloading has killed a music form while not, on the other hand, making any conscious effort to give something back to that medium. By supporting worthwhile new talent for example.

Furthermore, the essence of rock'n'roll resides within the spirit of those who create it. At the least it's the voice of the disenfranchised that honours the worth of every soul, not just those of the One Percent. Yes, even urchins from under the street are of equal value.

I rather wonder if cynics who are only in it for the money devalue that spirit and sense of purpose. I rather wonder if even an inebriated audience can sense that they are merely a cash cow for the posers on stage.

Gene observes that there was a golden period that pre-dates 1984. Well, thats rather obvious. From Freewheeling and Revolver, right up until the months of punk in '76 and '77, the form of rock music was forging new boundaries. The form has since then been somewhat defined. What has never been defined is the spirit and voices of the artists that have come since. Gene seems to have forgotten Guns N' Roses, to name just one band, that has created a timeless legacy of a particular character since 1984. In fact the late 80s were a very prosperous music period, following the industry recession of 1980, and corporate formula became the stifling norm. But listen to Hair Nation today and much of that material is beginning to sound pretty good compared to contemporary label releases. Bet ya never thought you'd ever have that thought!

Whats more, I see 16,000 people come to Mayhem, in 110 degree Phoenix heat, in the name of rock'n'roll, to celebrate the small victories that the 99% sometimes get to enjoy. Now I'm not entirely convinced that all the bands on that bill are there for the same reason. My point, however, is that there is an audience that still hungers for the spirit of rock n roll to be expressed. There is still a hunger for the brotherhood, and sisterhood, of the medium. There's still an urge to say 'fuck you' to The Man, to the machine.

Perhaps those who ride in limos and G5s and stay at Ritz Carltons are removed from that spirit. Perhaps for them it's all about cash flow and overhead. Perhaps it's survival for them to charge $35 for a t-shirt.

Perhaps the rock'n'roll One Percent have lost the plot, and by circumstance are no longer able to write anything that's relevant to the audience.

I am surrounded by young musicians whose souls are afire with passion and sense of outrage at contemporary social conditions. They all have their own personality in their way of expressing their observations and attitudes. They have relevance in their compositions.

One thing they don't have is headliners sharing their tours with them. Damn, you even have to pay to play in a mangy fuckin' club.

It's all rather short-sighted on the part of the promoters. If there are no worthwhile bands developing a connection with national audiences, then who's going to headline in five or ten years? Fail to bring on the next wave and all your venues will be scrubland in the future, tumbleweed rolling in the aisles.

Furthermore, Irving Azoff's company is apparently attempting to corner the market in the old 80s bands that still breathe, in order to control and exploit the nostalgia gigs and festivals. I have been told that his company has no intention of putting young talent on those bills. I hope that this is not the case.

My question for Gene is what are you in it for? Is it just the money, honey? Longevity for its own sake? Damn, Gene, roaches will probably outlive us all, just by their relentless permanence. Quality over quantity, always.

Los Angeles, the world's music industry centre, has never firmly held the plot. It has always been exploitive and maybe greatness was an accidental byproduct of the music industry's exploitation of the mundane and superficial in the interest of making corporate shareholders happy. One damned Katy Perry after another. Rock'n'roll is an outlaw attitude. Most of the time it was at loggerheads with the corporations that tried to harness it. Even someone like Eric Clapton did not have a career – he has a life. He follows his muse and instinct rather than employing an industrial calculation. By contrast, if I get one more freakin' e-mail hawkin' and shilling for Joe Bonamassa...

Does KISS represent that outlaw attitude? Or has it been a triumph of superficial image over substance? Of selling, as opposed to connecting? Merely an act? I dunno, and that's for y'all to assess.

What I will say, is from where I sit, rock music is healthy. Every time I see Slash play I experience at least a couple of moments of genuine spontaneousness and unpredicted brilliance. He brings his soul and reveals it every night.

Its the industry, and certain attitudes, that are not healthy. Invest cynicism into the means and the method and cynicism will be the audience response.

Gene? Open a label again. Share your experience and expertise. Open an LA club that books on the basis of talent, rather than the ability to buy stage time. Put talent on your television shows. Take a fresh band on tour with you and allow them to break even. You've got the means and I have yet to see a hearse with a luggage rack.
Click to expand...
 
Roger Waters said:
"When this gallery of rogues and thieves had not yet injected themselves between the people who aspire to be creative and their potential audience and steal every fucking cent anybody ever made and put it in their pockets to buy fucking huge mega-yachts and Gulfstream Fives with."
Click to expand...

It is true that at least one person on this planet who, by placing himself halfway between artists and end consumers, ultimately made enough money to buy himself an airline plus several spacecraft. Might own a yacht or two as well. However, he did it by selling those artists' music in physical format and long before streaming even became an issue. Spotify's Daniel Ek is no poor fellow by any standard, but I strongly doubt he'll ever play in the same league as Mr. Branson.
 
https://solstafirofficial.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/statement-about-my-forced-absence-from-solstafir/



Solstafir kicked out their long-time drummer and co-founder of the band. This is a pretty shit thing to happen. I can honestly say that I'm disappointed with this. This may only be one side of the thing, but I always took Solstafir as being something more than a typical rock band.

Guess I was wrong.




I copied the whole thing here - who knows, might get removed given how fucked-up this situation is.

SÓLSTAFIR
Sólstafir Official
Statement about my forced absence from Sólstafir
JUNE 3, 2015

When I woke up on the morning of 20. January and looked at my emails I expected to find an email with my flight details for the Sólstafir tour that was supposed to start the day after. What I found instead was an email from Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, signed by him and the rest of my now ex-bandmates telling me I was fired from the band that I‘ve poured my sweat, blood and tears into for the last 20 years because of communication problems between us that were unjustly being blamed solely on me and me alone.

I called the airline and found out that my ticket had been cancelled without me knowing it. In a state of panic I quickly bought a new ticket, refusing to acknowledge Aðalbjörn’s right to kick me out of a band that I had formed with him 20 years earlier. Aðalbjörn’s response was to make it clear to me that he would refuse to perform on stage with me and this would irrevocably harm the band and ruin any chance of reconciliation between us. Loving the band that I have dedicated my life to I decided it would be worth it to try and solve this matter with worlds instead of war.
I begged them please not to do this, this was not the right way to handle things, but was only given the vague answer that they‘d maybe be willing to reconsider this in a month, or maybe in 6 months or a year, maybe, just maybe. I was forced to sit quietly at home and witness my life‘s work being taken away from me while it was made clear to me that if I’d speak out about this injustice in public I’d have ruined my chance of ever returning to the band.
By this they were trying to get rid of me in a quiet and painless manner (for them), releasing a bullshit statement (hidden inside a start-of- the-tour Facebook post) that I was absent from the on-going tour for personal reasons, telling people to refrain from asking questions. No questions asked, no consequences for them and I was being threatened to shut the hell up.

While the rest of the band was on tour I sat quietly at home, unable to speak out because of their threats of taking away my chance to regain the purpose of my life. But by every day the hope faded and it became increasingly clear to me that I was being kept in a prison of false hope with the penalty of total excommunication dared I speak out.
It became crystal clear to me that Aðalbjörn had no interest in reconciliation when I found out that the very next day he had applied for a patent of the name Sólstafir in his own personal name and I.D., not in the name of our company that runs the band and not with the signature of any other band members. Had I not discovered this by chance (a lawyer friend checking on the name Sólstafir in the Icelandic firm registry) he would have gained 100% intellectual and monetary control over the name and the brand that I had done more than my fair share to create.

Note that Aðalbjörn says he called Sæþór and Svavar to a meeting at Sæþór’s house on the evening on January 19th and they subsequently sent me the email shortly before midnight. Knowing it was my girlfriend’s birthday they must have known I was out for the night and wouldn’t read the email until late the next day. In fact I had been speaking to her on the phone next to Aðalbjörn a couple of days before about what restaurant we should go to. The very next day, before I had read the email Aðalbjörn had already submitted his patent application. This goes to tell that Aðalbjörn’s story doesn’t add up and that he had been dishonest about his intent.

During this time I tried time and again to reach some sort of agreement with Aðalbjörn. I even booked a session for the whole band with a family councillor upon their return and hoped that we could talk things out with the guidance of professionals.
We were given one and a half hour session, to discuss a decision that has had a bigger impact on me than any other event in my life so far. Despite the short time we were given, my ex-band members showed up 15 minutes too late. The weather was indeed kinda shitty that day, but then you just leave earlier.
Once we were all there the councillor said that if things would get heated we’d just take a 5 minute brake, calm down and start again. Aðalbjörn replayed to this with resentment stating that if things would get heated he would leave immediately. So big was his desire to reach an agreement. After sitting quietly listening to the others speak it was my turn to speak and like clockwork Svavar Austmann started interrupting me and finally stood up and stormed out and Aðalbjörn then made good on his threat and proclaimed this the meeting’s end. Thus ended our session with no results, and little or no attempt to reach any conclusion.
While Aðalbjörn was putting on his jacket, before he could storm out I managed to ask him if there was anything he had not been honest about that perhaps he’d like to tell me now. His answer was no. No? I asked. What about trying to get a patient for the Sólstafir name in your own personal name and I.D.? Obviously he had thought he was home free and got very upset and defensive by me asking this, and aggravatedly barked at me “you’re not in this band anymore”. We’ll see about that I said, and besides I still have some right regarding the use of the name and logo on merchandise and other things. His answer was short and to the point: Then get a lawyer! And with that he stormed out.

I dropped by at Aðalbjörns house the night after our failed meeting. I couldn’t believe he really wanted to go this way and thought that maybe we could sit down and talk about things, but no money talk allowed. He wasn’t at home but obviously his mother told him I had dropped by so he called me later that night. Again I was very careful to stay calm, because my one and only wish was to resolve this matter. I could not believe that someone that I used to consider my best friend and brother really wanted to fight me in court. But again, to my disappointment that was his clearly stated will.
So I lawyered up.

My aim from the start was to not give up on negotiating a deal. I have made several attempts to do so but have been met with silence or (in one case) “negotiations” that add insult to injury.
Aðalbjörn’s idea of a deal was to buy me out for an amount way less than it coasted me buying an I.D. for the company, which I and I alone paid for with my student loans. At that time it was quite common that I paid things for the band with my student loans. I am the only member of the band that has in that way put my own money to use for the band and had it not been for that the band could not have toured and played festivals and would have broken up as a result.
My last offer, which was in my opinion more than fair, went unanswered.

So this is where I stand today. I have been forced out of the band that I dedicated my whole adult life to. I am left with a huge personal debt for pursuing my right (and the matter hasn’t even been prepared for trail, I’ve just been trying to negotiate). On top of that our company, that I am now alone financially responsible for is in debt too, of which the biggest part is for flights and tours I wasn’t even on. I am not getting paid for any merchandise sale (even though I personally designed most of it) and I’m not even getting paid for albums sold on tours that are bought by the band from the label by deducting their price from all of our royalties, including mine. I get no appreciation for all the work and sacrifices I have put into this band, which is a LOT more than you see on the surface. This has affected every single aspect of my life, down to the core of my existence and my self-image, my identity. I really don’t know who or what I am right now.
And Aðalbjörn even dared to tell me to just move on and do something else, like I had just lost a job at the local gas station and would just go work in the local supermarket instead. Let’s not kid anyone, I am 37 years old and have been in this band more than half my life, since I was 16. It took 20 years of super hard work, dedication and personal sacrifices to get here. I am not just going to form another band and act as if nothing happened.
He has also excused his action by comparing it to a love relationship, saying the love just isn’t there anymore as if that can justify his action.
You do have a choice of whom you have a romantic relationship with and to an extent you do have a choice whom you work with. Nobody can force you to work with someone you don’t like. But please realize that growing apart from someone doesn’t allow you to take away his/her life’s work and continuing it on your own. Aðalbjörn’s excuse to do that has been to say that there simply was too much at stake, that the band would eventually have broken up had he not taken this unjust action. Well, the band is not a sovereign being, it is an extension of the people who have put their work into it. Thus it cannot be justifiable to rob one person of the chance to enjoy the fruit of his labour while the others keep on going like nothing has happened.

I am not innocent of behaviour that has led to the problem we face today, we are all guilty of that, but unlike them I admit my guilt and only ask that I am not made a scapegoat to be blamed for all that has gone wrong.

It has pained me beyond believe that I have not been able to answer your questions about my absence from the band because of their threats and because I wanted to do everything humanly possible to solve this matter. I didn’t want this to become a public shitstorm fought over the internet. But while I do believe certain matters do not concern the fans, this is not one of them. You choose to support a band by paying for their concerts, paying for their music and paying for their merchandise. In that way you are the band’s employer. They might not make their music for you, but you enable them to keep on making music, and that earns you the right to know what is going on within the band.
Please know that the band have very deliberately tried to sweep this under the carpet. They have ignored questions and even deleted comments on their social media pages.

So it looks like this is the end of my involvement with the music business. I won’t miss the business side at all but I’ll miss all the wonderful people I’ve met around the world, and I’ll miss doing what I love, playing the music that I love.
If you do like to stay in touch however you can do so through my photography pages:
http://www.facebook.com/kuggurart and twitter.com/KuggurArt
Before I stop ranting I want to address one thing. I’ve come across comments on the internet (yes I do google myself sometimes) saying that there’s not much loss in me. To those of you saying that I just want to tell you that I can honestly understand why you think so. I am totally aware of my limitations as a drummer (and believe me my confidence as one has systematically been torn down by Aðalbjörn over the last 20 years). I know there is a long line of drummers willing to take my place, probably all of them better than me, but would they have wanted to do that 5 years ago, or 10 years ago? I really doubt it. What you don’t see is all the work I have done for the band behind the scenes. I could go on and on about my role in establishing the name Sólstafir through endless work on social medias, making videos, designing posters and merchandise, operating the merchandise store, packing and posting every single order myself, etc. Since I created our first Myspace page I have handled 99% of the band’s social media. Aðalbjörn, and recently their manager have occasionally posted something on Facebook but did never even once log into Twitter or take time to answer fan comments. Now they’ve got a guy in Ireland doing their homepage and posting on social media and booking agents posting show details directly – all this used to be handled by me.
I also built and managed the band’s merchandise store, which has kept the band financially afloat for the last 5 years. Up until a few months ago I hand folded and packed every single t-shirt and brought them to the post office.
The band is now riding on a wave I had a big part in creating. Sólstafir wouldn’t be where they are today without the music, but they also wouldn’t be where they are today without my endless p.r. work over the last 20 years. It’s always been my believe that the most important part in success is getting the name out there. And that is what I’ve worked towards for 20 years. You don’t go and see a band you’ve never heared of before, now do you? But just seeing the name around might invoke your curiosity to go check it out. This is the same simple methood big brand corporations use to ensure their product is always in your mind.
This work has been both selfless and selfish at the same time. Selfless because I’ve worked harder than anyone within the band to get the name out there, and selfish because I wanted to enjoy the fruids of success with my bandmates. (When I say success I don’t mean money and fame for their own sake, I mean being able to do what you love doing on a full-time basis.)
I have never been in this for personal glory and those that know me well know that I even felt uncomfortible at first when the bands growing success ment more personal attention.
And that brings me to one last thing. The personal attention.

The hardest thing about making this statement is bringing all the personal attention upon myself. I feel like I’ve failed and now it’s being brought up for everyone to see. Those who know me well know I’m an extremely closed person when it comes to my feelings and other personal matters. I loved talking to the fans about our music, not because I felt it made me somehow better or more interesting than the fans, but on the contrary because I saw it as a common interest and I felt honoured and privileged to be a part of it. It was something that brought me close to other people I felt were my equals and I viewed as friends. Sure I can’t be a close personal friend with all the fans, but I always talked to them on that level, and sure enough some of you have become my friends beyond the confines of this band.
The hardest thing I’ve done in my life is admitting how much destructive influence my unjust departure from the band has had on me. I feel so ashamed of having failed in front of all to see. I feel ashamed to admit how vulnerable I really am and how little control I have over my own life’s work and my destiny. Admitting that I am week enough to let this plunge me into an abyss of suicidal depression is therefore not a cry for attention. I don’t want the attention, but I want you, my friends, to know the truth.

To you Aðalbjörn I want to say this directly: I suspect this statement will be met with an attack on my personality. Although I have to get this statement off my chest I will not be dragged down to the level of fighting in public. I never wanted to drag the name of my beloved band through the mud. Everything I’ve said and done after I was unjustly fired has been and effect OF the fact and therefore cannot be a cause FOR the fact as you have tried to twist it around to be! You cannot justify your action by pointing at my reaction! This statement is my long held-back reaction. Now instead of using my reaction to justify your initial action I challenge you to take this opportunity to sit down with me and work out our differences, be the better man. I am in no way perfect, far from it, and I have made my mistakes, but so has each and every one of you. Do I not deserve that after 25 years of friendship? Does the band not deserve that after 20 years of extremely hard work and personal sacrifices on both our behalves? I hope you can see that the punishment does not fit the crime!

I’ll leave you all with one thing that’s been stuck in my mind since Aðalbjörn said it to me on 20th January: “I know you can’t see it right now, but this will be the best thing that ever happened to you!”
I can assure you all, it is not!

Yours
Guðmundur Óli Pálmason
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, this is a very dishonourable thing to do. Whatever Gudmundur did, or did not do, he doesn't deserve such treatment and Adalbjorn doesn't come off as a very nice person. Nor the other two guys, though it seems that they're just going along for the ride and it's Adalbjorn calling the shots.
I am curious what he will have to say about this.

In other news, I came across this interesting piece, based on some big data. I suppose the conclusions are not exactly correct, but, nevertheless, it's an interesting reading.
 
The Vice op-ed is nowhere close to correct, actually. Better to go to the Spotify article itself. Spotify is pointing out that heavy metal fans are the most exclusive in their tastes of any group of listeners worldwide.

Basically, what they are saying there is that if you want to put together a jazz channel, you can mix in a lot of other styles as well and not lose listeners, but Pohjola help the poor soul who tries to slip a John Mayer tune into his Screams from the Slaughterhouse channel. \m/
 
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