TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider has issued a response to KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons' recent comment that "rock is dead." Simmons told Esquire magazine last week in an interview conducted by his son Nick that "rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed and now it won't because it's that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it."Simmons went on to elaborate that as a result of file-sharing and other issues, record label support for rock music was not available like it was when KISS was coming up, concluding, "It's finally dead. Rock is finally dead."Snider posted the following message on his Facebook page on Wednesday (September 10):"Recently my esteemed colleague Gene Simmons of KISS declared that 'rock 'n' roll is finally dead.' "Really?"While I have nothing but respect for Gene, he couldn't be further off the mark. Yes, the rock 'n' roll 'business model' that helped KISS (and my band, for that matter) achieve fame and fortune is most certainly long dead and buried, but rock 'n' roll is alive and well and thriving on social media, in the streets, and in clubs and concert halls all over the world. And the bands playing it are more genuine and heartfelt than ever because they are in it for one reason: the love of rock 'n' roll. "Spend some time seeing and listening to these incredible young bands and their rabid fans and you will know that rock 'n' roll couldn't be more alive. Yes, it's not the same as it was for the first 50 years of rock's existence, but the fire definitely still burns."And it wasn't some 15-year-old kid in Saint Paul, Minnesota (to paraphrase Mr. Simmons) who killed the rock 'n' roll goose that laid the platinum egg... it was greedy, big-city record company moguls who made their own velvet noose to hang themselves with. It was they who took advantage of the consumer (and the artist for that matter) and drove them to use an alternative source of music presented to them. "For example, take the bill of goods the record industry sold the mainstream public when introducing the CD format. 'We have to charge more for it, because it's a new technology and there's a cost to setting up the infrastructure to produce them.' The consumer believed them it made sense so they paid a $18.98 list price for a product they had been paying $7.99 list for previously. After all, 'you can't break a CD with a hammer!' (Remember that?)"But when the infrastructure was in place and paid for in full, and the cost of producing a CD dropped to less than a dollar, did the record companies roll back the list price in kind? Not on your life. They weren't about to do the right thing and cut their increased revenue stream. Those fat cats were enjoying their ill-gotten gains way too much."So when the general public finally realized they were being had, and the opportunity arose for them to stick it to the man, what did they do? The same thing their Woodstock Nation, baby boomer parents had done when they had their chance...they stuck it and they stuck it good. "Does anyone remember Abbey Hoffman's 'Steal This Book', the massive-selling, early-'70s hippy guide 'focused on ways to fight the government, and against corporations in any way possible.' Multiply that by a googolplex."Is it hard to make it rock 'n' roll? You bet. Always was, always will be. Will rockers make as much money as they did 'back in the day'? Probably not. But that won't stop them, and they'll be motivated by a much more genuine love of the art, and great rock will continue to be produced, played and embraced by rock fans."So in conclusion: Record company executives killed the old rock 'n' roll business model
and rock 'n' roll ain't dead!"
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