Kiss frontman gives file-sharers tongue-lashing

Kiss frontman Gene Simmons is a strict dad and it seems he has applied his “now school” approach to illegal file-sharers on the web, for whom he reserves zero mercy. Simmons gave his stark views of P2P pirates at the MIPCOM shindig in Cannes. "Make sure your brand is protected. Make sure there are no incursions. Be litigious …

[Anonymous Coward]

Kiss

Mmm, never felt the need to download any Kiss material, (although I did see them at Monsters of Rock when I was a freckle-faced kid, and thought they were quite good. Ah, the delusion of youth), but might do now just to irritate them further.

[Anonymous Coward]

Loading newsleeecher....

I was thinking exactly the same thing as I clicked "post comment".

Not exactly a lost sale but definitely the middle finger.

AARGH.

[Random_Walk]

Not even then...

Sorry, but I only vaguely (as a kid) recall Peter Criss being any good, and hadn't bothered with KISS since he left. Why would I bother now?

Then again, I'm thinking that this whole hate-the-P2P kick may just be an ill-advised marketing move. Well that, or Mssr. Simmons is casting about for reasons why his albums aren't selling worth a damn, and settled on P2P being the answer (as opposed to the fact that his music is a trip through 1970's gimmick-laden schlock that no one wants - at least not outside of the balding Camaro-driving demographic).

[Anonymous Coward]

Clarification needed

"illegal file-sharers" - is it illegal to share files at all now? Or does it mean sharers of illegal files? But surely that would cover only extreme porn and terror related stuff and not Kiss songs, no matter how awful?

Puzzled.

[Anonymous Coward]

F**k You Gene

Put out some decent music, you talentless hack.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hear hear!

...nothing more to say, really. Bullet ... meet foot.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so much stuck on repeat..

... more a case of he has views that he believes in and sticks with. Not a concept most web hacks would be familiar with.

[Anonymous Coward]

Indeed.

Being able to assimilate new data and change your position based upon it is a real curse. I envy those who can just decide which position is most advantageous for them and then shutter their minds to new ideas. Must be such pleasant and simple life.

[Captain Save-a-ho]

Not familiar with?

Look around and the number of idiotic, religious fucktards on the interweb before making such a comment outloud...

[Anonymous Coward]

(utnitled)

Seems to be the expected rant from an, "I'm on the gravy train, you lot have to keep filling it", type of individual. Ah if only I got paid forever for something I worked on for an hour or two in the past. I'd retire today.

[Sean O'Connor 1]

Go on then

> Ah if only I got paid forever for something I worked on for an hour or two in the past. I'd retire today.

Go on then. Nobody is stopping you. Get writing.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't see why he cares.

It's not like you can download all the shitty merchandise he's been trying to peddle for years is it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Aah, the old lie

"The music industry was asleep at the wheel and didn't have the balls to sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material. And so now we're left with hundreds of thousands of people without jobs. There's no industry," said Simmons.

Recorded Music volume by year for the US, with projections, in million units:

Year Units

2005: 1301

2006: 1583

2007: 1774

2008: 1852

2009: 1931

2010: 2012 (projected)

2011: 2093 (projected)

2012: 2177 (projected)

Source: Recording Industry Association of America

Looks like a strictly monotonic increasing sequence to me Gene.

[Elmer Phud]

Not what he means?

What he's really on about is that his income has dropped and is so far up his own arse he thinks it's 'cos people are downloading for free instead of paying for the same bollocks that came out from Kiss when they started.

No, Gene, it's merely because you've been found out to be a bunch of limited musicians who only have the make-up and posing to go on. That and the idea that what you call 'rock' is just bog-standard industry offal.

Gene, go and read the lyrics to Robbie Williams' 'Kids' - now stop moaning, you're filthy rich as it is.

[Anonymous Coward]

Epic fail

Now I know how freetards get their name. Their brains can't compute.

A piece of recorded music is exactly what it says it is. When music came on bits of plastic it was a single piece of plastic. When it's a digital file, it's a digital file. With albums being unbundled, tracks are available now for individual download, so the number of units available for sale has increased.

But the revenue has declined - in the US from $14.6 billion in 1999 to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/

But that would spoil your re-tarded argument, so you don't quote it? You have failed on a quite Epic scale.

[Cheapster]

Nah mate, you're wrong

I think the income from games has increased at the same rate the music has declined. People are just more choosy with music now - that could affect Kiss.

People also want new music. By the way, where can I buy second hand quality music files? Or is it a con?

I don't download, why bother when spotify has such a good catalogue.

[Anonymous Coward]

@AC 16:21 I wonder.. could this..

Have anything to do with, oh I dunno:

1) Crap music being massproduced so that the only choice given is the one given to you

2) Suing your customer base - even 11 year old girls and grannies that don't have computers - for being enthusiastic about your music?

3) More and more artists going for concerts as their main revenue streem

4) Technology that you crapped on working better than your dinosaurial brains thought it would.

What you don't get is that the very argument you make about paying the artist, the poor poor artist - is that you're the ones stealing from them. The obsession with their outdated business model that pays the artist cents on the dollar is at risk if digital becomes popular

[Alpha Tony]

Unbundling

There is another effect of the unbundling that could explain some of that drop in revenue - The way we buy music has changed. Now we can pick individual tracks we are less likely to buy an entire album which only contains three or four good songs and a load of filler..

I am not suggesting that piracy is not a significant factor, but it's not the only factor.

[leakyPC]

@ Epic fail

Right,

So what you are saying is people no longer have to buy an album just to get the one good song.

Sounds like musicians should get off their asses and make decent albums if they want to make more money from the digital age. Not just flog 11 crap song with each good song and expect people to pay for it.

[david wilson]

@leakyPC

>>"So what you are saying is people no longer have to buy an album just to get the one good song."

I rather took what they were saying more as a suggestion that 'units' alone aren't necessarily the best measure when the case seemed to be Simmons claiming the sky was presumably financially] falling, and another person replying that he must be wrong because unit sales had increased.

[Chris 244]

Re: AC Epic Fail

You mean I don't have to buy the whole shitty album any more, I can just buy the 2 decent tracks I like! And it costs me less money! Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

and yet...

Revenues or profits have declined. Because, when you sell a down-loadable piece of music, you don't have to pay a bunch of wage slaves to make the plastic case, cd's, or liner notes. You don't pay for the press machines, printers, lighting, buildings, gas, truck rental, truck drivers, sales clerks, raw materials to make the cd's... as opposed to the cheaper servers, web-hosting, and web-masters. That's not including the promoters, lawyers, accountants and musicians you'd need anyways. Music is not a business with a slim profit margin.

I don't recall having entered into a contract with the artist not to steal their music (I own a couple KISS cd's out of a collection 1500+ of legally purchased cd's) nor have they entered into a contract with me not to overcharge me for their crap. They have as much obligation to pay some sweat shop workers in China U.S. minimum wage as I do to pay the inflated price they sell it for in the states. They don't get any sympathy because they haven't earned it. No one feels bad about stealing from them because they're overcharging to begin with. We can't properly fund our schools, but Gene Simmons can cry crocodile tears about making a few c-notes less a year and I'm supposed to feel sorry for the guy.

And as for Gene owning the food and air... he'll see how that philosophy of his plays out when he needs his kids' help when he gets older. He may have to pay for it since he's acting like a chode.

[Tom 35]

unbundled

"With albums being unbundled, tracks are available now for individual download, so the number of units available for sale has increased."

With albums you often get two tracks, and a bunch of steaming crap to fill up space.

With unbundling you can just buy the two tracks, cutting the record companies revenue. They can no longer make you buy crap to get what you want.

Kiss had quite a few pop hits, someone who wants "Beth" is not going to want the Rock that fills the rest of the album (even the few that are not crap).

If you only buy the tracks you like there is no need to buy a "greatest hits" album as you already have your own version (I think Kiss had about 12 different versions). More lost (can't sell you the same crap again) revenue.

The boom from everyone rebuying the same stuff on CD is over. SACD and Audio DVD did not give them another boom of people buying the same stuff again (since they tanked).

But it's much easier to blame the "free-tards" who never buy anything anyway, and would not buy Kiss greatest hits volume 13 even if you took away their internet.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Major recording artists" time to grow a pair

Any "huge" recording artist who still in this day and age allows themselves to be financially raped by the major record labels has no right to moan about the state of the industry if you ask me. It's time some of them started growing a pair and ditched the record labels. They would earn more from record sales too if they own their own publishing rights, plus what we all think of as big artists probably make more from tours anyway so some in theory could give all there songs away for free and just exploit them financially for things like use in TV, films, adverts, games and compilation albums.

I know of few people who have had songs signed to major labels who have been totally screwed by them. Imagine finding out 10 or 15 years after your top ten hit was released in the UK and Europe that it was actually also a a top ten tune in Japan but never even being told by your record company that it was even released over there let alone being paid the royalties!

Also I find it incredible that recording contracts are even enforceable, they essentially force a person to work for one company only until a certain amount of work is complete.

[Anonymous Coward]

Spot on

When we replaced the best of our old worn vinyl with CD's, I don't recall getting a credit for having bought the IP twice. When my teenage son buys some of those same tracks from the iTunes store (he would never assume Dad's extensive CD collection had anything worth playing), I have paid a third time. So it seems a bit rich to hear these guys whine about how they're being ripped off.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/kid-rock-starves-to-death,342/

Especially when they (e.g. Garth Brooks) think they are due a 2nd payment upon resale.

And then we must consider the source: Kiss? Garth? Meh. I am reminded of George Carlin's assertion that the 'women against abortion are the ones you wouldn't want to f*ck anyway'. True? Not IMHO. Sexist? Sure. But funny none the less....

[david wilson]

@AC 14:27

>>"When we replaced the best of our old worn vinyl with CD's, I don't recall getting a credit for having bought the IP twice."

How much of a credit would you have expected?

When you bought the original album, how much of what you paid was actually for the IP, rather than the production cost, shipping, wholesaling, retailing, (all those including a profit margin for someone), sales taxes on the retail price, etc?

Though I'm not sure what the figures would have been, I do wonder if after subtracting the cost of administering a refund for old media, dealing with the returned items, etc in a scheme that would likely have to run for some time, the end result would have been something that many people would be happy with?

[Just Thinking]

Alternative interpretation

When you change from selling albums to selling tracks, two things are likely to happen. Unit sales will go up (because the item is cheaper) and revenue will go down (because most people only buy the best tracks).

Both these effects are predictable, and the fact they have happened tells us nothing either way about piracy.

Switching from tangible CDs to MP3s also makes the whole process of buying music less exciting. When I was young I could afford one album a month, so I thought very carefully about which one I would buy, and scoured the shops to try to find the best price.

Paying the price of a coke for an MP3 you've heard a thousand times on the radio isn't the same. Maybe some people have just stopped bothering. It isn't as if there aren't plenty of other things to spend your money on these days.

I'm not saying that piracy has had no effect, but falling revenues alone tell you nothing.

[Anonymous Coward]

"revenue has declined in the US from $14.6 billion in 1999 to $6.3 billion in 2009"

Funny that there seems to have been a recession in that time. Or did you record executards happen to miss that one?

I also find it quite amusing that the record industry is constantly wheeling out it's "poor" sales figures as if there's some innate reason why I should care. What do you want me to do? Play you a song on my tiny violin? I don't care what your sales figures are. Save it for your shareholders because, and I think I speak for everyone, nobody else cares.

This is a world where people often have to beg for food and water. And you wonder why no one listens to your pleas for an extra $billion. Why should they? What's in it for them? The warm sense of satisfaction you get from giving money to someone a lot richer than yourself?

I don't care if the music industry collapses (which of course it never will but let's just play into your paranoid fantasies for a second), because all the good music has already been released. All we have now is this race to the bottom to see who can use the most dynamic range compression, the most autotune, the shittiest most hollow lyrics. You end up with music that's not just physically painful to listen to, but bad for your mental health as well.

Back in the day you got a band to stand together in a room, mic'd up, and they'd play you a fucking song. You might do a couple of takes but whatever they played by the end of the day is what went on the track. That way, only real musicians ever made it as far as the recording studio. Only decent equipment and high quality instruments were used by anybody who wanted to make music that didn't sound like a shit sandwich being scraped down a blackboard.

Now every band member is recorded separately, like a fucking police interrogation, and the soul of what they play is sucked out and perverted as just another raw material that needs to be digitally enhanced by clueless marketing people.

Of course, digital editing makes amazing things possible, but it also makes it possible for the clueless and the inbred to make "music" in half an afternoon with no effort or talent. And you record industry hacks are shipping in the inbred by the boatload. All you really want is a weak disgusting person who you can easily mold in your image and market in force. Lady Gaga anyone?

/ end rant /

[Nightkiller]

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Yes, yes yes. We know all of this.

However, with the advent of do it yourself recordings more gobsheit than ever before s being released. The fact that it's released doesn't mean that people are going to actually earn a living from it. Totally the opposite. Too much content and nothing worth the money.

[John I'm only dancing]

Kiss this..

Useless piss ant...I wouldn't illegally download any crud from Kiss if he paid me.

[min]

i think i might just have to..

..download some of their music now. then delete it because i would not want to take shit out of his kids' mouths. or did i misread his statements?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most exellent comment

YOMANK

[Anonymous Coward]

Lol

I don't think Kiss have to worry about kids downloading their music

[David Kelly 2]

Nothing worth buying, or downloading

Haven't bought music since Phish as I haven't heard anything worth buying, Or worth downloading. Currently have "iTunes DJ" well tuned to my likes. When not near iPod or computer then Classic Vinyl on XM/Sirius suits my tastes.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for sharing

Now list what you had for lunch.

[Ben Rosenthal]

1 strike!

Because downloading this arse bilge is the one crime that you really should be taken off the internet for.

[Efros]

Seems he's stuck on repeat.

Bit like the pap him and his band churned out, you wouldn't notice a scratch on the vinyl for hours.

[Russ Tarbox]

Sounds like...

...his parenting is as shit as his music.

[LuMan]

Sell out

So, it's OK to be a strict authoritarian and voice your views on extreme parenting (not friends, just parents - get real!) and file sharing what, at some point in the past, may have been OK music, before selling out and jumping on every fecking re-emergence bandwagon you can find - Tony Hawk's for crying out loud! Best thing they ever did was appear in an episode of Family Guy!

[Anonymous Coward]

My heart breaks....

"The music industry was asleep at the wheel and didn't have the balls to sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material. And so now we're left with hundreds of thousands of people without jobs."

Moronic quote of the week?

I'm sad to hear about the supposed 'hundreds of thousands of people without jobs'. Although I assume Gene could probably afford to give each of them $50 for their troubles and still have plenty left in the Simmons family bank for him to swim around in.

Maybe I'm asking to much for him to address the imbalance in earnings between a talentless hack like himself and the people who do the real work.

[mystra]

orly?

this rant from the man who's son blatantly plagiarized tite kubo's manga. perhaps he should pay attention to what goes on in his own family before lambasting others.

[Anonymous Coward]

No-one downloads Kiss

The reason Kiss' revenue has dropped is really simple - they haven't got any new material.

They have umpteen compilation albums - and it's all the same old stuff. Everyone who wants it has already got it. Changing the order on the CD doesn't magically make it new and interesting.

Anonymous, because I once bought the entire discography when in a Kiss cover band. I'm still embarrassed, and I'm still regretting it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sonic Boom

Well, Sonic Boom was well received last year and there's another new album due 2011. I in no way condone what Gene was saying but then I doubt Paul Stanley does either! They're kind of fire and ice these days. (Possibly with Derek Smalls as Lukewarm water).

They still put on an amazing live show.

http://www.youtube.com/user/gavmiller#p/a/u/1/cgoA0CUv9hc

"Billboard has compiled its 2010 Money Makers top 40 list with KISS coming in at No. 34 with $11,833,930 in revenue: "Kiss spent 2009 on the road promoting its highest-charting album, the Walmart exclusive 'Sonic Boom,' which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold 238,000 copies. The new set helped Kiss earn $10.6 million in touring revenue and $879,000 in album sales."

[Anonymous Coward]

Typical rich snob in life

What an ass he is. Literally and on stage, the guy dresses like a slut with his butt exposed, and lives his life the same way with comments like this.

He isn't even really married, he just lives with a women because he is too afraid to commit to her. So his kids really aren't his kids.

His comment is also the typical comment you get from the wealthy in this world. Thats how they got their money, by screwing everyone else. With a could care less attitude. One day it will come back to bite him.

[James Hughes 1]

'Scuse me?

Are you saying that because I am not married to the mother of my children, who I live with, they are not my children?

Think you need to return to the Southern states pronto, and start a creationist cult immediately.

[Chad H.]

But there is no music industry, and hasn't been for decades

The music industry claimed back at the development of music radio that they'd be killed by music radio (it's free music to the user after all, who's going to buy what's free).. Therefore, decades later anyone claiming to be involved in the music industry must be an archiologist, an undertaker, a zombie, or a combination of the above.

Does Gene Simmonds count as a Zombie?

[Anonymous Coward]

heh

all I can say is

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-25/nick-simmons-incarnate-halted-over-alleged-bleach-plagiarism

[Martin Usher]

Isn't Kiss a 1980s band?

One of the most embarassing things you come across as you go through life is the musicians of your rebellious youth turning into middle aged -- or even -- old people. Fair enough, you can't stop time, but when they start dressing and acting like it was 30 years ago -- it makes me cringe.

Kiss and that style of music had its time. Its fans are now preoccupied with other things.

Its over. Nothing to see here, folks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Twisted firestarter? Flaccid emberstoker, more like!

This coming from the man who did *that* cover of Firestarter.

Come on, who doesn't know by now that Gene Simmons is, and always was, just a business man? This should be no more of a surprise as the head of Warner Bros coming out with the same views.

Kiss is just an olde-worlde travelling circus, with the clowns being just as miserable once they take off the face paint as yer average Cocoa. Anyone who thinks that someone who puts on face paint and leather must be some kind of radical hero is a fool. Just look at all the New Romantics telling anecdotes of glory about living in squats back in the 80s... at dinner parties in their multi-million pound Grade II listed properties in Camden.

What do people expect Lily Allen & Co to be like when they're over 50? They'll be the first to call the police when the young scruffy oik next door dares to play loud music after 5pm.

And if New Labour was a product of 70s youth culture, would anyone like to imagine what kind of government today's gangsta yoof will met out (like truncheons) when their time comes? They'll make Gordon Brown look like Adam Smith on acid. And Darth Vader look like King John.

[Daniel B.]

Shit Parenting

Thank God I'm not his kid. I would probably have run away years ago!

I'll grant him one thing: at least he's a jackass to everyone, his kids aren't spared from his jackassery.

[Anonymous Coward]

Kiss...

...My Ass

[Anonymous Coward]

May I just say Gene

Please don't breed any more.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Off the rails ?

I hope the nice rock star has never taken drugs.

Obviously drug testing should be introduced by the RIAA and MPAA.

These people are role models to our poor innocent children and any music from a band that ever took drugs should be banned from shops.

[Captain Thyratron]

In that case,

say goodbye to most of your music.

[Anonymous Coward]

A few bits about Gene...

Gene has never:

Used drugs.

Smoked.

Consumed alcohol.

I know this, because I worked as a special effects technician on a KISS tour, which included shows in England. Part of my job was to cook blood for him to spit on the front rows of the audience. (Not real blood, of course, just a reasonable facsimile. Strawberry flavored.) He was the most business-conscious of the band members, as opposed to Ace, who was mostly unconscious. Ace is the only person I've ever seen have his own case of champagne carried onto an airplane.

I suspect his diatribe is in large part to gain publicity, in a effort to boost sales.

No, I haven't downloaded any KISS music. It really needs the stage show to make it whole; without the lights and pyrotechnics, it's not the same.

netgeek

[Ihre Papiere Bitte!!]

RE: drugs

Much as I hate to defend him when he's being a twat, Simmons was never a drug-taker, nor was Paul Stanley. Ace Frehley & Pete Criss were both fired for doing drugs.

Does't mean I agree with or like Simmons tho. Grew up on Kiss, and I still think Destroyer is an amazing album, but the last decent work they did was Revenge in 91, and that was the first good album in 15 years!

I still have nightmares about their Disco Period - I was made for lovin' you baby... Yeeeeurch.

[bexley]

father of the year?

Probably not, sounds like a real asshole.

However, over on the largest and best music tracker, the most hits on one if his albums is 268. Even if they are all lost sales (which they are not) then thats hardly enough to account for his declining sales.

The issue i have with this is that he blames downloading for declining sales.

While this is clearly not the sole cause he latches onto it because, well, it's something to blame is it not?

Then we have the AC "freetard" comments that always pop up on these threads, 2your all freeloading freetards etc...", who use the argument that it does not matter that we would never buy it in the first place but might download it for free, it's not ours to steal in the first place and that is whats wrong.

The counter argument these AC's present never fits with the lost sales argument.

[Eduard Coli]

Blaming the victem

Perhaps Mr. Simmons might want to throw some vitriol towards the music monopoly.

They were ones price fixing for years, sucking artist dry on any kind of album sales and lastly caught trying to extend their copyright while saying they were just trying to protect musicians.

If the music monopoly had played ball and used the networks as another sales channel then things might be different. What they were afraid of was losing control. Milking albums by putting 1 hit track with more "experimental" material.

Simmons should recall how popular Lars and Co. are now not that it matters, his career is not going much of anywhere, anyway.

[A J Stiles]

If I was Gene Simmons' plumber

If I was Gene Simmons' plumber, I would knock on his door asking for money every time he turned on his central heating or flushed his toilet.

[blackworx]

Make sure your brand is protected

Yep, cos that's what music is all about.

Fuckwit.

[Kevin Fields]

I can't disagree with his parenting skills

I know it's off-topic, but blame El Reg, they started it. I don't necessarily agree with his opinion on music piracy, but he is right that the music industry failed to capitalize on the catalogs that they had and because of their inactivity, they allowed the thieves to get the jump on them. You can't unring a bell, we'll never go back to the old days where you were paying $20+ just to get one decent song.

Anyhow, back to the off-topic. I think Gene Simmons is a great father. He's not a friend to his children, he is their parent. He's taught them right from wrong, he's lead by example on how a person should act as a decent human being. He holds strong and controversial opinions, but he does so in a manner that not only shows respect for his beliefs, but also respect for those with whom he disagrees. Unlike many of his peers, and the children of his peers, the Simmons family is probably one of the more stable and wholesome families you could find anywhere.

[envmod]

real fan

right there.

[blackworx]

Re: Industry

"he is right that the music industry failed to capitalize on the catalogs"

We all know that is the major part of the problem, but Simmons' only angle seems to be one of criticising the labels for not being swift enough or heavy-handed enough in prosecuting file sharers. IME it's only folk like him that come out with quotes like that and there's an obvious reason for it.

[Al fazed]

Not around here matey

Well he don't live around here.

What planet does he live on ?

I treat my children like human beings.

I know they are capable of anything, but their ingenuity and perspective on life is always so refreshing.

Since when did parents actually "KNOW" anything ?

Adults spread so much bullshit and confusion amongst the youth, don't you know ?

And only so they can milk the fat purses of the innocent and ognorant youth !

Obviously not !

Or maybe you were being ironic and I just need another coffee.

ALF

[informavorette]

Interesting views for a "self-described social liberal" (you can guess my source)

This is the guy who brought corpse paint to mainstream, even before black metal existed. It is a guy who had a lengthy affair with, of all people, Cher!

Given the record of his brilliant ideas, why should anybody feel compelled to listen to his advice?

---

A side note: strangely, I seem to be the only reg reader who isn't ashamed to admit to enjoy listening to the occasional Kiss song once in a while. Although I cannot remember if I actually valued them enough to pay for them :blush:

[Mectron]

Grade A morron

Just make sur never ever buy any product with the kiss logo on it. but make sure it is widly avaiable every where for everyone for free. hit the this old fart where it'ss hurt. the wallet.

This guy should be arrested for been a unfit parent and for his hate speecch.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Grade A morron

I had to let that one through once I had wiped the tears of laughter from my face. Enjoy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ironic

That you spelled moron incorrectly.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Ironic

I KNOW RIGHT?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like someone's having a breakdown!

"I am not their friend, I am their parent and they are going to do as I say. There is no running to their room and slamming the door. That's my room. That's my door. Even the poop they poop out is the food I bought them. The air they breathe is my air."

Yes I agree, beat your kids. I don't know them, but they're probably spoiled shits, so every beating counts.

On the other hand, I'll teach my kid to pirate like a pro so he doesn't get caught. I won't have to get so uptight about him using "my air" and "my door" if his entertainment is free.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Sounds like someone's having a breakdown!

Where does it say he beats them?

He just sounds like your averagely strict American parent to me. He's probably overly aware of the whole ultra-liberal musician thing and has reacted against it, not wanting to be the crappy parent of wild kids. It's totally understandable.

I mean, I'm no huge fan of his and don't care much either way about any of this, but an awful lot of you seem to be condemning him as a parent just because you find his views on file-sharing abhorrent. Which is... lame.

[Anonymous Coward]

hmmm

need a bigger troll alert icon ;)

[Destroy All Monsters]

"And so now we're left with hundreds of thousands of people without jobs."

Wow. I didn't know that the western educational system creates hundreds of thousands of people whose sole possibility of gainful employment, whose very purpose of life even depends on whether there is a plant in China that spits out shiny round pieces of plastic.

Let Social Darwinism cleanse this, I say!

[Anonymous Coward]

You have to admire his fortitude

It takes some seriously large balls to stand up in public with hair like that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Kiss - last album when?

Ummmmm

a) Wait till you get to his age......

And you will all probably be sounding just like him...

and

b) He owes his success to the fact that his music collection is made up of tapes that he ummm borrowed from me.

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny how

Funny how some musicians with talent and the drive to still be creative like Nine Inch Nails are releasing all their stuff freely on BT and still making plenty of money off it, isn't it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Kiss.

They did one good song:

"God gave Rock and Roll to You".

But some other band wrote it anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

God gave Rock and Roll to You

Note the operative word there: Gave not sold.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Kiss.

> They did one good song:

>

> "God gave Rock and Roll to You".

They *covered* one good song.

> But some other band wrote it anyway.

Argent.

[LinkOfHyrule]

What a total ****

This geezer sounds like a total ****. Shouldn't be a friend to your own kids? What dose he hate them or something?

As for the file sharing thing. Shut the **** up.

Kiss are a shit band, I can say I honestly don't know any of their songs but they are definitely still shit!

I've never even heard of them, what are they some sort Welsh mens' choir or something?

[Nigel Brown]

Listen very carefully to the world's smallest violin

Gene, Gene, Gene.

Give Lars Ulrich a call, you can both go and cry into your beers.

[Vladimir Plouzhnikov]

Kiss?

That stupid pops with a lot of shouting to make it sound like hard rock? Who would want to waste bandwidth on that crap?

[Goat Jam]

Feck Off

The Statute Of Anne was put in place for the express purpose of allowing content creators the ability to monetize their creations for a predetermined period which was, if I recall, 14 years with an option for a second 14 years.

In return, once the period of protection expired, the content became part of the public domain.

38 Years is more than enough for an artist to milk their creation in order to make a living.

When the media industry (led by Disney Corp) succeeded in destroying the Statute Of Anne in their ongoing efforts to extend their period of copyright protection into infinity they essentially announced that they were no longer interested in abiding by the social contract that the SoA represented.

Hence, I am no longer interested in abiding by my side of that social contract.

Having to purchase works that were originally produced over forty years ago is simply ridiculous and is nothing more than brazen profiteering on the part of the media industry with scant regard for their obligations towards the society and people who provide their income.

While the media industry remains as the greedy, immoral, profits at all costs conglomeration of corporate monsters that it currently is I have no problem with anyone who declares that "Thar be torrents ahoy matey!" thereby completely ignoring the whines of an industry whose corruption and disdain for their own customers is legendary.

If an artist such as Mr Simmons here is not able to provide themselves with an income with their works that are less than 38 years old then I would suggest that they go get a real job flipping burgers or selling cars.

You know, like everyone else does *

* Except for "Pension for life" ex politicians but that is another rant entirely.

[Arnie]

I'm gonna rockand roll all night...........

And sue you all one day.

set your client to leech & delete. lost sales? you can KISS my ass

[Anonymous Coward]

That is really catchy!

Kiss my Ass:

Rock And Roll All Nite - Sue You Every Say

Songwriter: Tool O'Lucifer

We played you everything we have got

40 years ago and we were super hot

The sales drove us wild, the cash just made us crazy

Been 30 years since the DJ gave our album a spin

Were are so lame the studio we haven't been in,

The downloaders drive us wild, they ignore us because we're crazy

You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

You keep on saying you'll were once in style

But you haven't made an album in quite a while

The downloaders drive us wild, they ignore us because we're crazy

We haven't toured in quite a lot

Albums gathering dust are not hot

The downloaders drive us wild, they ignore us because we're crazy

You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

I want to rock and roll all night, and sue you every day,

[Al fazed]

YAWN of the Dead

Look .........

As soon as the existing music "INDUSTRY" is no more, then maybe "proper" musicians can make some fucking money and maybe even a living.

As long as these fat celebrity (rockers ?) parasites are flogging their shick and dated institutional musical crap and "their" institutional musical crap alone, it will always be the same, the incessant out pouring of slurry from Simon Bowel, et al.

YAWN of the dead ?

So what if thousands of morons won't be able to buy anymore KISS albums ?

We probaly just saved the fuckin' planet !

ALF

[Anonymous Coward]

Sex tape

I downloaded the Gene Simmons sextape off P2P. Do I owe him some sort of royalty?

[Tilman Ahr]

huarrrrp!!elf1

Why, for the love of whatever higher being there might or might not be, would you *DO* such a thing? The thought that such a thing might actually lurk out there on them interwebs is going to make me think thrice about ever downloading anything large enough to be video ever again. Thank you very much.

Hmm... Thinking about it: What's that thumping soun;%*CARRIER LOST

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, please...

(This is a little late in the thread but still relevant).

Using the term 'freetard' will always be a good way to detract from your argument

It's a bit like entering a debate on liberals and conservatives by starting with "The thing about those commies is..." Even your own side aren't going to bother listening to you.

[Jim Benn]

Poor, OLD, Gene.

Well, at least he's got "Boss Tweed" to live with. THAT has to count for something. Otherwise, the poor guy hasn't done anything since "Wanted: Dead or Alive". Besides, he is already making as much money as he possibly can. With his TV show, and the (rerun) KISS tours, he is "Being all he can be". I pity him.

[MJI]

People actually download it!

Kiss were dreadful, most of my friends and I considered them a joke, and an embarrasment to the world of Heavy Rock.

This was back in the heyday of Heavy Rock and Heavy Metal in the 1980s, you had bands like Van Halen (Running with the Devil), Scorpions (Blackout), and of course all the many New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, & Def Leppard. And what did Kiss do - a silly disco song.

So basically the reason noone is buying Kiss stuff is we prefer decent bands.

Fail because they should.

[zenp]

....but the true irony lies here, can't believe no ones mentioned it..!

...his son is a bit of a rapacious copyist himself, y'knows, for all daddy's claims to great parenting. Kid completely ripped the art from the Japanese manga series Bleach for his own comic. Not just once, but over and over again, so much so that the publishers had to halt production! Way to go Gene. "They're allowed to rebel once I kick them out of the house and they earn their own living.", yeah, by ripping off other artists! How exactly does that NOT count as a FAIL in your books Gene...?

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/02/radical-halts-nick-simmons-incarnate-amid-claims-of-plagiarism/

[Loki 1]

What a bad father!

He doesn't want to be his kids' friend? I want to by my kids' best friend so if they have any problems they will come to me to talk about it. He just will push his kids away from him and probably completely off the rails.

This traditional, I'm the father you do as I say crap is something that should have died out with the dinosaurs. Its like how you see on US films and series' with boys calling their fathers "Sir!". Sir? Its not the bloody army.

[Not Installed Properly]

Crazy Crazy Copyrights

"people try...to take my IP away...so have a listen...to the crap i say..."

I recall the first line of crazy nights by Kiss being something like; 'heres a little song for everybody out there', which suggests it is a gift. Bit late to complain now, isn't it?