Gene Simmons Says Artists Have ‘Duty’ to Do Business
Gene Simmons argued that artists have a “duty” to follow up the creation of work with efforts to sell it to as wide an audience as possible, offering a new take on his attitude to the music business.
The Kiss star returned to one of his favorite themes in a recent interview with Sweetwater Sound. “It was never called ‘music’ … it was always called ‘the music business,’ and if you believe in truth in advertising, the word ‘business’ is up there," he said. "You can choose to ignore that word [and] you will go back to your mom’s basement yet again. You will be doing the music you love, nobody will know about it.”
You can watch the interview below.
“After you create something, it is your inferred fiduciary duty to make the rest of the world aware you created something," he explained. "If you care enough about the music you’re creating … you’ve got to go out there. … You got to go out there, and that’s called promotion and sales. ... Without somebody knocking on your door, saying, ‘Hey check my stuff out,’ they’re not going to know about you. … I know the folks up at the top, they go out there and work every day, even if they’re rich.”
On the subject of his own songwriting, Simmons said his “batting average was very low.” “I can write 10, 20, 30 songs and maybe one or two will connect with people," he said. "Very few of the songs you’ll actually write connects.”
He noted that, on many occasions, songs required to be rewritten after they seemed to be finished. “I have original versions of ‘Calling Dr. Love,’ which was called ‘Bad, Bad Lovin’’ and had a different chorus and so on,” he said. “Things like paintings, books, you do that then you come back and rewrite and mold it. Songwriting is no different than a painting.”