More about: Kiss

KISS bassist Gene Simmons has lashed out at streaming services claiming that they are “disaster” for artists and prevent the discovery of “the next Beatles”. The freakishly long-tongued rocker was speaking to Fox Business promoting his $2000 box set The Vault, which features 150 previously unreleased songs, when he made his attack.

Asked if streaming service hurt artists financially, Simmons said: "It's a disaster. It's a disaster, because the fans have decided, and they've been trained to not pay for music.”

He continued: "Imagine a supermarket. Farmers have worked all their lives to grow the fruit, and the trucks and the unions that bring it to the stores, and the beautiful stores and the people that work there.

“Imagine walking in there and being able to walk out with anything you want without paying for it. How long is the farmer gonna stay in business? How long is retail gonna stay in business? So everything is dying because fans have trained themselves not to pay for the music.

"Look, you're not affecting me - I'm doing okay, my rent's paid - but you're killing the new band. You're killing the next Beatles, and that breaks my heart."

Adding that he thinks “legislation is the answer”, he offered another example: "Look, my daughter, Sophie Simmons, had a ten-million-viewed single two years ago. Ten million!

"She made two hundred and fourteen bucks. Spotify is taking all the money. The bands are taking, the acts are taking a small percentage of one penny per download, which is a crime."

It’s not the first time Simmons has criticised streaming services. Speaking to the SDR show earlier this year, the bassist claimed that there was no point in making another Kiss album “unless there’s a financial model that works.”

So there’s some good news then.

More about: Kiss