Music piracy killed rock and roll according to Gene Simmons

Rock music is finally dead in the opinion of legendary Kiss member Gene Simmons — and online piracy is the culprit. In a new interview written by his son Nick, the artist says that dwindling royalty payments and a more competitive market have killed off the opportunity to make a living from music outside of the major manufactured pop acts. Simmons says without the backing of a record company, artists won’t be able to develop as they have in the past.

Speaking to his son Nick in an interview for Esquire, KISS frontman Gene Simmons declared rock music “finally dead,” likening the rock music industry to an “insurmountable mountain” financially. In an interview that reads straight from The Onion, the singer/bassist laments the current state of rock music, focusing on the perceived financial difficulty young bands face. “It’s very sad for new bands,” he says. “My heart goes out to them. They just don’t have a chance. If you play guitar, it’s almost impossible.” Simmons is referring to the notoriously low fees paid by streaming music services like Spotify and Pandora, as well as an internet-bred culture that has little respect for intellectual property law. “The masses do not recognize file-sharing and downloading as stealing because there’s a copy left behind for you,” Simmons says. “It’s not that copy that’s the problem, it’s the other one that someone received but didn’t pay for.”