In a short interview released by the leviathan record label Nuclear Blast Records, Scott Ian talks about the huge commercial success of artists like Adele, who has broken all kinds of album sales records recently and the effect online streaming and illegal downloading has on bands like Anthrax.
Ian was quoted as saying (as transcribed by Blabbermouth) “The Adele phenomena isn’t, like, some great wake-up call for the record [labels]… Well, it is a wake-up call, in a sense, to show the companies that they shouldn’t be so short-sighted and they’re going for the quick kind of cash-in, I think, on this record. But there are people out there who will buy something quality.
“In a very, very small way, metal bands like us, Iron Maiden, Slayer – bands that have been doing it for so long — AC/DC… and have built and maintained an audience, you can say, in a lot of ways, on a much smaller level, we have the same thing; we have our fans who will go out and buy our records. Granted, we don’t have twenty million of ’em. But our fans are very loyal and very strong, and they want that physical product, and I think that’s great. And that’s why I would say, I wish, if there was that option to have the Internet go away, I just think the experience for everybody, when it comes to music, would be that much better, because the Internet has devalued music to where people think you can just have it for free, and it shouldn’t be that way.”
Ian continued: “If I had the option to make all of the Internet go away — like, let’s say if I could go like that [snaps fingers], and it’s like it never existed and we never knew we had it — I would choose that, because it’d be much better for the music business.
“Now, look, I get streaming — it’s a modern convenience, it’s the next step of where things are going, as far as how to get your music, and I don’t have a problem with that. Look, I was one of the first people to get an iPod. I love iTunes, I love having all my shit right here in my phone; I love the convenience of that. I even like streaming, because it will turn me on to music that maybe I wouldn’t have heard before and then I’ll go and buy the record. But I just feel like, once again, bands are getting ripped off by these streaming services. If Spotify would pay more money to the bands for the art they’re creating, I think just in general people would have a better view of music and think it was worth more. Music should be worth something. It is worth something. We’re creating art, and these businesses have completely devalued what we do, and obviously I think that’s bullshit.”
The cracking new album For All Kings is out now via Nuclear Blast. You can read an album review and feature interview in the latest issue of Heavy Music Magazine, which is available now for FREE download.
Anthrax’s Facebook page amusingly replied to the Blabbermouth headline: ‘ANTHRAX’s SCOTT IAN’: ‘If I Had The Option To Make All Of The Internet Go Away, I Would Choose That.” By calling them ‘BlabberClickBait.’ – Obviously referring to their startling headline.
