Gene Simmons admits to being a schill for the music industry!

[str1f3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ziIwZRl7U

that's the short clip.

here's the full version in a back and forth with bob lefsetz:
http://site.citynews.ca/video/?bcpid=1640183522&bclid=1896836079&bctid=16513340001


i never liked kiss anyway but it makes me dislike them even more. i thought rock at it's core is supposed to be about defiance and breaking the rules. gene really comes off as an ass.

[iJohnHenry]

Gene is a consummate business man, first and foremost.

[Mattaut]

They are more entertainers than musicians, like britney spears or the jonas brothers, except maybe slightly more talented at music(maybe). They are very talented entertainers though.

[skottichan]

would you like to see my surprised face, or my really surprised face.

[edesignuk]

gene really comes off as an ass.Surely that's because he is an ass, a rich and successful one.

[str1f3]

Gene is a consummate business man, first and foremost.

yes i know. i've seen his dumb ass reality show. he's made a career out of a large tongue. i would expect more from an old time musician (in the age where musicians were constantly getting screwed by their labels) to not be a whore for the major labels. doesn't he already have enough money from the 105th kiss reunion tour? do you have to sell your soul also?

is it me or do i expect more from an musician/entertainer/artist?
i'm willing to concede a lot of the industry is straight business. but individuals like neko case controls her own career & music (very profitable one at that) and still manages to create great music.

it's also funny how he made fun of lefsetz's name considering his name isn't really simmons. it's Chaim Witz. god, what a dick!

[NT1440]

I thought it had been obvious for almost 30 years that simmons/kiss was a schill.....

[Cassie]

yes i know. i've seen his dumb ass reality show. he's made a career out of a large tongue. i would expect more from an old time musician (in the age where musicians were constantly getting screwed by their labels) to not be a whore for the major labels. doesn't he already have enough money from the 105th kiss reunion tour? do you have to sell your soul also?

is it me or do i expect more from an musician/entertainer/artist?
i'm willing to concede a lot of the industry is straight business. but individuals like neko case controls her own career & music (very profitable one at that) and still manages to create great music.

it's also funny how he made fun of lefsetz's name considering his last name isn't really simmons. it's Chaim Witz. god, what a dick!

The man is all about money, he doesn't care how much he already has. He's the kind of shallow person who will never be truly happy in life, and for this I feel sorry for him.

[63dot]

both guys had very valid points after the stupid insults and one-liners

record companies can do the administrative work in the background that is still necessary

yet, the internet is a good medium for unsigned bands

[ashjamben]

Bob Lefsetz made some very good points, alot of people do buy CDs and do pay for downloads, but they need to find other ways to distribute their music.

[iObama]

Why don't you watch the whole video? It's a half hour long, and Gene Simmons looks a LOT better if you watch the whole thing. That Bob Lefsetz is a d-bag. Who the hell is he, anyway?

[iJohnHenry]

To the OP, I'm sorry your idol was only wearing a mask <snicker>, but there are lots of people in this World doing the same thing.

You have to admire his honesty, if not the man.

[63dot]

To the OP, I'm sorry your idol was only wearing a mask <snicker>, but there are lots of people in this World doing the same thing.

You have to admire his honesty, if not the man.

What makes an ego-maniac like Gene Simmons interesting, is that he admits his mistakes and instantly applauds another person's idea if it is better than his. He doesn't hesitate for a second when he realizes he may be wrong.

This leads me to the belief that he is not a true ego-maniac, but more of a hard-headed persona who wants the truth, but may not always be the most
tactical in finding it.

Fellow founder of KISS Paul Stanley has said many things in his famous disagreements with Gene Simmons in the 80s/90s/2000s on KISS and music in general.

I see Gene Simmons as an educated musician who has one foot in the world of music/performance, and one foot in the world of business, not unlike Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. (Mick went to London University's London School of Economics).

Gene Simmons is educated and graduated from Uni and had a year of post-grad, and isn't just shooting from the hip.

Though his major was theology, he carries himself realistically as one who may have studied business. Even if his young teenage son has better idea than him on any issue and they have a heated argument (as per the reality TV show), he is more than willing to admit a better idea in his son if that seems to be the case.

He is more than willing to retire from KISS and run it from the sidelines.

The Ace Frehley lead guitarist character and Peter Criss drummer character currently in the band are not the original people who manned those positions.

KISS is a franchise much like Menudo and Gene considers himself just a member of that franchise, and one day only a behind the scenes producer in this big business adventure that was once a band with four original members.

[str1f3]

Why don't you watch the whole video? It's a half hour long, and Gene Simmons looks a LOT better if you watch the whole thing. That Bob Lefsetz is a d-bag. Who the hell is he, anyway?

I'm not a bob lefsetz fan or anything close but he is one of the more respected bloggers on the music industry. Many music executives and muscians read his blog. If he was nobody influential, he would not have been on the stage with simmons.

As for simmons, he seemed in the interview to be holding on to the same draconian view of the music industry as the major labels (such as copyright). You want to say he's a business man. That's all fine and dandy but there are businessmen who do for themselves and those who do for themselves while screwing over everybody else. He is the latter. As a former musician, he should know better than to side with the record companies on the issue of copyright and royalties which the major labels are still screwing artists on. Just look at the royalties the artists get on each song sold through iTunes. They get pennies on the dollar while the label gets 10x as much.

To say that gene simmons isn't an egomaniac is crazy. Listen to the man speak at any point in his career and his ego comes through. For years he's had sexual encounters while living with Shannon tweed. Shannon tweed!!! She like 50 and she still looks hot! He may be nice to his own spawn but that's because it's his spawn. This is a guy who made fun of lefsetz's name on stage when he himself did not have the courage to keep his own and was actually proud of it!

Both guys let the insults fly so they both did not sit well with me. But the difference was I had respect for lefsetz's point of view while simmons annoyed me defending a system that left many an artist broke throughout the past century.

[rhett7660]

And this surprizes you how? I love Kiss, always have always will. But Gene is a business man. Plain and simple. If you ever watch his TV show you will see this first hand. He likes money and he likes to make money, plain and simple. He has a product that a lot of people want and he knows how to market it. I don't hate him for it. Not the least bit. The same can be said about a lot of other wealthy people. They like the trill of making money.

[zelmo]

While I've certainly allowed my membership in the KISS Army to lapse over the years;), I have always had a great deal of respect for Simmons. He is a superb businessman, a great entertainer and an average musician.
The best thing about him is his honesty. He doesn't pretend to be anything he is not, and he will readily admit to being what he is - an opportunistic business man who has a franchise that he continues to milk for all it's worth. He built it (with some help) and is very protective of his rights to control what he has created.

[rhett7660]

While I've certainly allowed my membership in the KISS Army to lapse over the years;), I have always had a great deal of respect for Simmons. He is a superb businessman, a great entertainer and an average musician.
The best thing about him is his honesty. He doesn't pretend to be anything he is not, and he will readily admit to being what he is - an opportunistic business man who has a franchise that he continues to milk for all it's worth. He built it (with some help) and is very protective of his rights to control what he has created.

Couldn't agree more...