Kiss Bassist Gene Simmons has said that modern music fans are “killing the infrastructure” that has already been created, by illegally downloading music. Simmons has also said that those who engage in the act are potentially ‘killing’ up-and-coming artists.

In a recent interview with Planet Rock, Simmons spoke about the process, saying it’s stopping the next Kiss or Beatles from succeeding. Simmons said “I blame the fans. Because the fans have decided en masse – in other words, the masses have decided – that they should get free music, download and fileshare”.

Simmons went onto to say that “You’re killing the next Elvis [Presley] and The Beatles and the next Kiss and the next whoever, because you have to give your music away for free”.  Simmons said that it stunts the growth of new bands “The talent is definitely out there but the fans killed it. They killed the infrastructure.”

While Simmons was peeved about fans illegally download music, he heaped praise on record labels saying “They gave bands money that they never had to pay back – ever! If the band failed and the records were a complete disaster, the advance money was all theirs”. Simmons then added “Yeah, they’re greedy, they’re this… but they wanna make money just like you do. But they gave you millions!”

Photo Credit: Vintage Fender Basses