In a recent interview, Simon LeBon of Duran Duran has proclaimed a call-to-action for streaming platforms to reform their payment models for artists.
Many artists, including KISS’ Gene Simmons have called out the severe pitfalls of streaming, saying that rock is dead because of it and not because there’s a “lack of talent”.
He said, “The reason for that is not because there’s a lack of talent, but because young folks, that kid living in his mom’s basement, decided one day that he didn’t want to pay for music.”
“He wanted to download and file share. And that’s what killed the chances for the next generation of great bands. The fact that the music was for free. So nowadays new bands don’t have a chance.”
LeBon explained to NME, “Artists need to get paid properly for music that is streamed, that’s where the money should be coming from.”
“What do artists get? It’s like 0.2 of a penny per stream and that’s not just for artists, a percentage of that will go to the record company as well who then don’t give it to the artists, they’ll give it to the people they consider to be the most successful artists.”
He continued, “It’s so unfair and it’s so wrong – the idea that people can spend nine quid a month and listen to unlimited music worries me for a start because it devalues recorded music.”
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LeBon also took into account the current status of the live music industry, with majority of it coming to a halt during the pandemic.
“The real practical knock-on effect is that new bands can’t make money unless they play live and during a pandemic no one has been able to do that. There’s going to be a hole in the generation.”
And LeBon thinks that it’s not just the altered live music industry that’s had the negative “knock-on effect” for bands, it’s also the fact that nowadays, “the competition was nothing like it is now”.
He said, “Music is a form of expression that people who want to do it can’t live without. I’m just so glad that I make music.”
“When we started there just wasn’t as many bands. The competition was nothing like it is now and the focus of attention was much tighter so you could be in the biggest band in the world. I don’t think it would be possible to pick that now.”
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