Gene Simmons: P2P Pioneers Should Have Been Forced into Work Like Nazis

[shamu726]

KISS guitarist Gene Simmons is back again with a new anti-piracy tirade. After blaming the fans for “killing music” and wishing that everyone at Napster had been thrown in jail and then forced into work as the “Allies did with the Nazis”, he suggests that a “Great Wall of China” should have been built around music with everyone daring to pass being sued.

Every few years KISS guitarist Gene Simmons decides that stirring up a hornets’ nest on the topic of music piracy is a good idea.

Back in 2008 he said that children should be harshly punished for obtaining songs for free, noting that “..every little college kid, every freshly-scrubbed little kid’s face should have been sued off the face of the earth.”

Later that year he was back, all doom and gloom and talking openly about the death of the music industry. “It’s six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this,” he said.

At the start of 2014, with the music business now finally doing what they should have done more than ten years ago, Simmons is back. But while the record business is slowly changing its tune, Simmons appears to be stuck in the past – and he’s still blaming the fans.

“I still think it’s a crime,” he says in next month’s MetalHammer magazine.

“The sad part is that the fans are the ones who are killing the thing that they love: great music. For fuck’s sake, you’re not giving the next band a chance.”

Simmons, a fierce backer of Metallica when they chose to sue Napster in 2000, says he still believes what they did was right but blames the industry for not locking things down even more.

“Record labels should have stood together and made the Great Wall of China [around music] and sued anybody who transgressed,” he explains, probably forgetting that the former isn’t possible and the latter has already been tried.

As for Napster’s creators, Simmons says they shouldn’t have been allowed to walk away. He believes they should have been given the Kim Dotcom treatment – and then forced into work for the good of the music industry.

“They should have bitch-slapped them,” he says. “Gone down with the FBI, seized everything and put everyone in jail. But then they should have done what the Allies did with the Nazis: made them work for us.”

While Simmons regularly talks about the death of music at the hands of piracy (which still hasn’t happened), it seems to come down to how much the band has lost to illegal downloading.

“It’s certainly millions. I don’t think it’s tens of millions, but certainly millions,” he says, adding with a smile that the band does very well indeed from licensing and merchandising.

To have lost millions to piracy suggests that many more millions have been made and there can be little doubt that KISS have done extremely well financially after selling 100 million albums. But for Simmons there’s something that we all have to accept – every one of us is “a capitalist pig.”

“And this is the essence of what unites us all. We all want more. There’s no such thing as never enough. It’s a harsh truth,” he says. “I want to make as much money as possible and then make some more. My conviction is that everyone is just like me.”

Simmons’ anti-piracy comments have made him an unpopular figure amongst tech fans online. In 2010 his website was attacked by Anonymous activists as part of Operation Payback, which resulted in the prosecution of a then 25-year-old from the United States.

Source: TorrentFreak

[PrEzi]

A$$hole that doesn't understand where the technology is going and leading us... He just does care about how big his pocket is.

The similar people as he is -- were also afraid of :

-- phonograph (would destroy the singers/bands they said)

-- tape recorders and later cassette tape recorders (similar excuse)

-- vhs/beta/betamax -- will destroy the TV broadcast/shows/movies

-- CDs -- similar to other audio media

-- DVDs -- similar to vhs...etc.

-- something something.... dark side...

-- DIGITAL AGE --- WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING and is EEEEEVIL for sure !!

Edited January 17, 2014 by PrEzi

[bigcid10]

just for gene simmons saying what he said,I'm going out and download the whole kiss discography now!

[killbit]

Gene Simmons has always been a greedy, obnoxious piece of shit. At least he's consistent.

[AlexCross]

Let's be realists, they make way too much money for singing for 3 and a half minute. Milions of dollars from just 35-45 min of singing, and with retouches in the studio. I heard a song by T-pain or something like that, OMG, that's not music. You can make a computer to sound just like him singing.

I wouldn't spend more than 0.30$/song, and it's still to expensive. More like 0.10$ would be the right price.

Edited January 17, 2014 by AlexCross

[jackieo]

I guess he gonna go after You Tube next! Kiss sold out to disco! GS can KISS my ass!

[PrEzi]

Well... IMHO Kiss was always some kind of a mixture of Rock/Pop/Disco.... dunno what else... some guitar Riffs and a lot of makeup....

[locoJoe]

KISS had some great tunes and I used to rock to them, but WTF Gene? I had no idea he had such a strong opinion on/against piracy.

I havent noticed any less "bling" around Genes or any other artists neck since file sharing has been around. Greedy bastards!!!!!

[FreeRyde]

just for gene simmons saying what he said,I'm going out and download the whole kiss discography now!

Gene Simmons is the embodiment of greed...

IMO Kiss sucks, with exception of a couple of tracks.

I grabbed a 39 CD Kiss discography a few years ago for a neighbour's son.

Now his friends, their friends, their friends, etc, etc, all have a 39 CD Kiss discography.

I might delete mine and download it again just because the guy is a dick.

[edwardecl]

People are afraid of change, they are stuck in the past. They don't even bother to comprehend what technology has done to make lives easier. The next band already has a better chance then people previously had. Recording and distributing is almost free, if you want to get your stuff out there then go and do it.

But obviously it's not about the music is it. He is probably afraid of the changing landscape of music where a nobody can compete with the big names, and they fall into obscurity.

I still think releasing music should be about promotion rather than making cash. If people like you they will pay to see you, they might even buy merchandise if it's good quality.

He's not going to win any new fans with an attitude like that. Evolve or die.

Edited January 18, 2014 by edwardecl

[mastershake]

used to really be into kiss. then came the crap kiss era of disco. then when revenge came out it was awesome. and then back to crap they went. revenge is my favorite kiss album with the old first few albums following. but gene is such a dick he always has been. everyone knows it. i got to go backstage at the end of the revenge concert and everyone but gene was awesome. gene was a total dick to everyone even those who PAID for backstage passes to see them and support them. seriously he acted like we were criminals for being back there. i cant say enough what a jackass he was to people. bad night or not shouldnt matter. he wants people to pay to support his music and treats everyone like that. im not the only one who i know that says this either. so now i say screw him and i just grab the new stuff also when it comes but of late its all been garbage anyway, and by the way he plays bass not guitar

Edited January 18, 2014 by mastershake

[speedpedal]

Reminds me of the guy who sawed of the tree limb he was sitting on.

[bigcid10]

just for gene simmons saying what he said,I'm going out and download the whole kiss discography now!

Gene Simmons is the embodiment of greed...

IMO Kiss sucks, with exception of a couple of tracks.

I grabbed a 39 CD Kiss discography a few years ago for a neighbour's son.

Now his friends, their friends, their friends, etc, etc, all have a 39 CD Kiss discography.

I might delete mine and download it again just because the guy is a dick.

I already had it but I said screw it I'll do it again just for that

[locoJoe]

Seen his house the other day on TV...he has got more than enough.

Edited February 2, 2014 by locoJoe