I've read part of the speech Gene Simmons gave at Billboard Touring Conference in New York this week and ironically, he sounds like the CEO of a car company yearning for the good old days. I understand him being a capitalist and all, but his comments are uncalled for and one of the primary reasons the music industry is faltering and why the concert industry in the next two to three years will falter even worse than recording industry.
Below I will take parts of the Billboard article originally published at this link and beneath each paragraph, I will give my comments.
Having recently completed a 30-plus-date European tour, Kiss will "eventually when we're ready tour America," co-founder Gene Simmons said during a keynote address today (Nov. 20) at the fifth annual Billboard Touring Conference, held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.
Translation: KISS will tour the US when the promoters pay their asking price. But because every promoter in the US lost money on the 2004 KISS tour, no one is jumping at the chance to promote what will ultimately be a losing venture without Peter Criss and Ace Frehley on board.
Referring to Kiss as the "juggernaut of all rock'n'roll brands," Simmons said the band is currently working out future tour details. "We've been talking with [manager Doc McGhee] about Europe and then doing a year-long tour maybe this coming summer, but we'll see," Simmons said. "Kiss and Queen, that would be a smash. That would kill. So far (it's) 50/50."
Translation: KISS loves their money and even though we can't sell out arenas and sheds on our own, we want to bring another classic rocker out with us, jack up the price and only play 80-minutes (see Aerosmith/KISS tour 2003). Hey, if KISS and Queen actually toured together next summer, you would actually have a whole group of original members between the two groups (2 from KISS and 2 from Queen). My only question is whether Gene would make Brian May and Roger Taylor wear Ace and Peter's make-up?
During the address, Simmons, who is also a reality TV star and entrepreneur, stressed the duties of being a live performer. "I don't care if you're Axl Rose, forgot to tie your shoelaces or your father molested you when you were three -- you're a bitch if you don't show up onstage when it says 9 o'clock," he said, drawing loud applause from the audience.
OK, so Axl goes out onstage late, who doesn't know this? I'll tell you what, I would rather take the chance of seeing Axl and GNR slay me the way they did in 2006 {review here} than seeing Gene call it in every night playing the same exact KISS songs we saw between 1996 and 2000.
"You need to have the integrity and self-respect to respect the promoter who paid you the money in advance, the hall and the people who makes all our lives possible," he continued.
Question for Mr. Simmons: So, when you could barely sell a third of the sheds in 2004 at prices of $25, $50 and $75, did you actually return money back to the promoters? Hell, they reduced lawn tickets here in Chicago to $10 and there were still barely 12,000 people there. Plus, that's not counting the hundreds or thousands of tickets that were papered. I am guessing KISS didn't shed a tear over the fact that every promoter lost money on that tour. This is the longest period KISS has ever gone without going out on a full scale tour of the US. It's not because they don't want to, it's because the guaranteed money is not there for them with two original members missing.
Speaking to an audience of primarily concert promoters, venue officials and booking agents, Simmons warned those in the live entertainment industry that it wouldn't be wise to lower concert ticket prices. "Don't do that, you're training an entire generation of people to pay less for something and then more for something else," he said. "They won't know what the value is and they'd rather pay less every time."
In 2000, KISS did their so called "Farewell" tour and tickets cost $25, $50 and $75...very reasonable. KISS no longer has Ace or Peter with them, so their prices should be significantly lower than that. If you bought a new car in 2000 for $20,000 and in 2008 you have 80,000 miles on it, do you really think you deserve $20,000 for your car now?
No concert ticket should ever be over $100 with service charges. Bands like KISS, tickets should be $50 and under...and $25 more if they bring back Ace and Peter. KISS had a top ticket price of $45 on their 1996-1997 and guess what, they still made millions. The cost of taking a show on the road hasn't gone up that significantly. If they claim it has, they're lying.
Hey Gene, maybe if you actually created some new KISS music, I would feel differently.
Simmons stressed that the touring business needs to quickly think about the future of its model. "Thank God you're the last vestiges of a dying breed, because the record industry is already dead, because we trained the people [that] they don't have to pay for stuff that they used to pay for," he said. "The record industry allowed that and people are shocked they're out of business."
Translation: "I make no money from the sales of records, so I need to kiss (no pun intended) every one's ass here so you will overpay me for a future tour where you will ultimately lose money."
Ticket prices are out of control, service charges are out of control, artists ego's are out of control and promoters will eventually have the floor beneath them fall out as the public will wise up and realize that no concert is worth more than $75. If the concert promoters DO NOT lower prices, then Mr. Simmons will have no industry to suck money out of. The irony of all of this, is that the cheaper the ticket, the more likely fans will buy merchandise, seek out and buy their music and most importantly...come back to see your show again. Would you rather sell a $50 ticket to someone who will spend money on merchandise, follow your music and come year after year to your shows? Or do you want to charge someone $150 for an experience that will ultimately put a poor taste in their mouth, turn them off from wanting to buy merchandise or music and make them feel entitled to download your music for free?
Meanwhile, Simmons expressed his discontent with the fact that Kiss, which he co-founded in 1972, has not yet been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "A lot of those guys on the board can go and get my sandwich when I want, and I mean that in the nicest way," he said. "There are disco bands, rap bands, Yiddish folk song bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but not Kiss. I believe we have more gold records in America than any other group, but it's OK."
Spoken like a true PR person. Is KISS an important band? Hell YES! They deserve to be in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, but I wonder if Gene has ever heard of how to attract more bee's with honey instead of vinegar. If he stopped talking about it and putting down the Hall, they may let him in.
This speech proved that Simmons is as far out of touch with reality as the CEO's from the major car companies in Detroit. People have less money than ever to spend and I can tell you, they are not going to spend it on a band whose best days are behind them and a band who is missing two original members. If you bought a Toyota car with a Ford engine, would you pay the Toyota price? I don't think so.
