Gene Simmons Says Fans To Blame For Music's Downfall

KISS star Gene Simmons has never been one to bite his famous tongue and he continued that tradition in a recent interview where placed the blame for the downfall of the music business squarely on fans.

Simmons made an appearance on the Thunder Underground podcast and was asked his opinion of online streaming music services like Spotify. He responded, "Good luck to 'em. I am not a supporter. I do believe in free market economy - supply and demand and all that kind of stuff - and I support Taylor Swift and Metallica and anybody else who doesn't wanna play the game; The Beatles didn't wanna play the game for a long time."

He went on to explain that he is "a rich bastard" and it doesn't affect him but says that it is hurting up and coming bands. Gene explains, "Imagine you're a new band and you have your passion and your music and you really love it, you can't do it. There's nothing else. They can't show up live, because they don't know who you are, so somehow you've gotta get the music out there. But if you wanna earn a living, you can't get the music out there.

"So you're living in your mother's basement, you have to have a dayjob and the kids get your music for free. 'I'm just promoting my live shows.' It doesn't work. And the people that killed all the new bands are the fans themselves. It wasn't corporate America, it wasn't aliens from space. The people that killed the music they love are the people who love the music."

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