Chad Bowar of HeavyMetal.About.com recently conducted an interview with former BLACK SABBATH singer Tony Martin. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

HeavyMetal.About.com: If we put you in charge of the music industry, what changes would you make to improve it?

Tony:
Are you serious? You don't have enough space! I will say this, though.
Music is a worthless art these days, and I believe any changes have to
come from the artist, not the industry. And we have to have a new
contract with the consumer. That contract should be an understanding of
what it means to be in possession of the product we make. And then, most
importantly, nurture a new attitude towards music that will last into
the future. What does all that mean? In short: stop giving music away
for free! It's not working. Stop working for free! It's not working.
Music is not for free. As for the industry, I think it's time to lose
most of it! In the days when I was able to sign a record deal, we relied
on record labels to distribute physical albums around the world. In
this age of Internet access and file transfer, it's possible to do that
without the labels. The days when a record company nurtured a band with
five-year deals is gone, advances are gone, and A&R is gone. Mostly
it's about quick sell and out the door. Hardly any of the people living
off the back of music have changed the percentages they take. I favor a
more personal direct sale to our fans with a contract of commitment to
them. In return, they become part of the control over the product they
have. Just so that you understand the level of interest I have in this
and why you don't have enough space, I have asked lawyers, unions and
artists to give me reasons and answers for the whole problem we have,
and it varies from international agreements on price fixing to the fact
that we as owners of intellectual rights uniquely give them away when we
sign our contracts with the industry.

HeavyMetal.About.com: Which Martin-era SABBATH album do you think was the best, and which is your favorite?

Tony: Love them all except "Forbidden".

HeavyMetal.About.com: What do you think of the latest reunion and talk of a new SABBATH album?

Tony:
I don't have any particular thoughts either way about it. Clearly it's
one of the last reunions with all the original members and that has to
be considered. But apart from that, I hold no regard, but also no grudge
for them. It's all cool.

HeavyMetal.About.com: Are you fans of any of today's current rock/metal bands?

Tony: Yeah, lots of them, and some past bands like REEF. I see the excitement in bands like FOO FIGHTERS and RAMMSTEIN to the melodies of RADIOHEAD
and some indie bands. But what amazes me more is how kids have such an
understanding of music and how it feels. My kids are stunning writers,
and I can't believe they have those words and melodies at 14 and 18
years old; I never did. It all came to me later in life. Makes me wonder
what bands will be like in the future.

Read the entire interview from HeavyMetal.About.com.


Someone I know posted this on Blabbermouth ...

People got fooled in the beginning: Art shouldn't have monetary value.
The industry took art hostage and always tried to make a profit out of
it. Painters, writers and musicians who are doing music for themselves
first and for the people who appreciate their art aren,t complaining.
It's when you art is supposed to become your income that things go
wrong. Get a job to pay the bills and make art you believe in, have an
interest into and put your heart into it and you won,t be offended to
have people downloading it for free. People like art, they just don't
want to pay for it. Understand or disappear...



What is your opinion? Poll + Discussion...

I voted for number three but any artist/band demanding people pay for all their music is now immediately behind the black-ball. People generally don't want to pay for music and the ones that are willing to pay, want to pay as little as possible as is why downloads are so popular. If someone can get three album downloads for the price of one CD, they will take the downloads. Bands need to offer a lot more if they want to sell CD's. Just a CD shoved inside a jewel case is not enough. Offer a free download with the purchase, a DVD, free admission into a live show, half price t-shirts and so on. The music itself is not enough anymore.


People like Tony Martin are not living in the real world. As much as I hate to say this, people like him are out of touch with what people want. The comment posted above is also fairly accurate, the industry did hijack music, especially in the 70's. You only have to look how concert tickets quadrupled in price in just a 5 year period. It became about the money, not the entertainment value.

This is a tough psychological question. Can you put a price on what good music is worth? I am not talking about the physical item but the music itself. I think classic music is priceless, you cant put a value on it so it is only the costs of the CD itself that needs to be covered. If a bands CD's cost $2 each to make, then they are only worth $2 on a physical level.

All of the posts above are right. The days of getting rich through making albums is over and it is time to move on. I have never agree much with Martin either in the past. He strikes me a dude with a axe to grind after being leaving Sabbath.

Is music a worthless art form? Never. Most musicians are musicians because they would never dream of doing anything else. They either have a compulsion to create music or feel like they have something to say. Now if you form a band, let alone a doom or sludge band, expecting to strike it rich with record sales or even touring sales than you simply don't have a clue. It's a lifestyle choice and you should probably expect to hold down a variety of second jobs.

If one's aim is to make a lot of dough and get radio play then you should be prepared to sacrifice or compromise any type of artistic integrity you have. Also, you wouldn't be forming a metal band plain and simple.

The days of big record sales are over and underground acts will still scrape by through touring. Any act out there complaining about internet piracy and lack of album sales probably aren't even on my radar.

Should people pay for music? Yeah, they should. It's an intellectual property and I believe that artists should get their due, but that's also an idealistic viewpoint.

Yeah I think most bands wouldn't care if a few people here and there illegally download their album, it is just when thousands of people do it and only a few actually buy the CD that it becomes a problem. I know a band whose second album almost didn't happen because their first got shared so much across the internet that they didn't make any money on it. At one point they Googled their own album and found it uploaded on over 50 sites so it can get out of control.

It has always been odd to me that people think they somehow are entitled to get music for free. This attitude started with the hippies in the 60's who protested that all music belongs to the people and everything, records, festivals should be free. Thousands of people protested over paying a lousy $3 to get into the Isle of Wight Festival and that was the biggest bands in the world at the time.

That attitude is still happening but now it is people using the internet as the the villain. If people can get something for nothing they will do it. To be honest, I don't mind it so much if it is a grossly overpriced piece of software that they are illegally downloading but cheaper things like albums is really killing the industry. Of course for some people, that is exactly what they want to happen.

In a recent interview with Metal Storm, guitarist Nige Rockett of British thrashers ONSLAUGHT was asked if he — as an artist — thinks that potentially harsh action, such as the controversial anti-piracy bills SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act),
should be taken to reduce online piracy. "Yeah, action has to be taken
no doubt about that," he replied. "Theft from artists cannot be
tolerated and cannot ever be taken for granted. We all work real hard to
write and record music for the listening pleasure of others. It was
never an issue before the Net, so why should it be allowed now? I do not
necessarily agree with the way they are going about it by taking
people's Internet away completely, but I believe the Internet providers
should be held partially responsible for clamping down on the problem
and policing their industry. Once the prosecutions of major online
piracy sites begin, the problems will ease, I hope, for the sake of
'every' person who loves music. Why? Because if things continue in the
current trend, music as we know it will cease to exist in as little as
10 years' time... No labels, no mags... just a bunch of young bands
trying to promote themselves on the web, but nobody will know they are
there or how to find them. There will never ever be another band that
reaches the heights of METALLICA, AC/DC or VAN HALEN,
etc. Flipside of the coin, labels need to help the situation by cutting
the retail costs of CDs and DVDs; they are far too expensive by
comparison to manufacturing costs and this surely fuels the amount of
illegal downloads. I think there can be a compromise. I just hope it's
real soon before it's too late."

ONSLAUGHT will cross the
Atlantic for its first-ever North American tour in March. The three-week
trek will see the band performing a setlist spanning all its studio
albums — "Power From Hell", "The Force", "In Search Of Sanity", "Killing Peace" and their latest release, "Sounds Of Violence". Support on the dates will come from M-PIRE OF EVIL (formerly PRIMEVIL), the new band featuring former VENOM members Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar) and Tony "The Demolition Man" Dolan (bass, vocals). Also appearing on the bill for some devastating dates on the U.S. West Coast will be EVILDEAD.

ONSLAUGHT recruited Michael Hourihan (EXTREME NOISE TERROR, DESECRATION) to play the drums following the 2011 departure of Steve Grice.

ONSLAUGHT's fifth album, "Sounds Of Violence", was released in January 2011 via AFM Records. The follow-up to 2007's "Killing Peace" was recorded and mixed at Hansen Studio in Ribe, Denmark with acclaimed Danish producer Jacob Hansen (RAUNCHY, MERCENARY, VOLBEAT, HEAVEN SHALL BURN).

It is already that way around here. Music and music related merchandise doesn't exist at all in my area anymore. No CD/Vinyl stores, they have all closed down. Can't buy magazines anywhere around here and certainly can't find T-Shirts. There are no live venues, the last one of those closed down about 3 months ago. I live in Oakland but I have to drive a good 30 minutes if I want to see a live metal band. I used to be able to walk to gigs. Those days are over. There used to be street vendors selling CD's and Vinyl too, I haven't seen one of those guys in at least 3 years.

For me music is pretty much a worthless art these days, but only because no one respects it. People used to cherish albums, everyday citizens, not just music addicts. But through a few generations between the 90's and now the attitude changed from paying for something with value and taking care of it to people who make money off art don't deserve a thing. Yet these are the same people who shell out countless dollars to pay for grown men to play childrens games i.e. football, basketball, etc... There is no justice when someone with real talent for music gives up because they can't support what they do, yet some uneducated meathead makes millions for throwing a ball.

Going off topic here but yeah the emphasis on sports in this country is retarded. I see so-called music fans talking about sports on Facebook more than music most of the time and I wonder WTF are they talking about. It bores me shitless...

You might have seen/ or heard this already but the head of Sony music revealed that they are phasing out the making of CD's with the deadline for CD extinction being 2014. Expect other big labels to follow suit. This will of course cause a trickle down effect where CD manufacture companies will have no choice but to go out of business. The end is near.

So... you just simply won't be able to have a hard copy of your music unless you get vinyl? Thats... retarded.

But then I guess it's only a matter of time before CD players arn't even built anymore... we keep setting ourselves up to be totally screwed by a solar flare.

In a recent interview with Tom Tripykon Warrior, he said that all future releases could be limited edition only as most people download the music for free anyway - pretty bad when even well-known bands are thinking about taking this route.

I think I already said this but I don't know anyone who buys CD's anymore. I went to a party Saturday night and it was this Ipod thing plugged into a amp playing mp3's. I asked what CD's do you have and the woman just gave me a blank stare lol.

On March 13, Carl Sundberg of the "Standard Ass Rock Show" on Oregon's "real rock" radio station 101.5 KFLY conducted an interview with Maynard James Keenan (TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE, PUSCIFER).
When asked about his views on illegal music downloading and how it has affected the music industry, Maynard
said, "I think it's a much bigger conversation. I think part of the
problem with most of that is just the foundation of respect or
entitlement. I think 'entitlement' is probably the better word. I think,
just in general, our society has gotten to the point where just you
click a button, you get what you want when you want it. So until we get
to a point where we realize you don't necessarily always get what you
want when you want it, we're gonna have a problem. So it stems from
there. And then things like file-sharing and the Internet kind of lend
themselves to that mindset. So, some day, hopefully, we'll adjust that
perspective . . . And until somebody has actually written a check to
record their own record and see everything that goes into it, they don't
really understand that if you just take it… The current state of music,
I'm sure there's a lot of creative stuff going on out there, but there
certainly isn't — of course, I'm being nostalgic — but it doesn't seem
like there's as much, creatively, going on, 'cause most people can't
afford to do it."

It is like anything on the internet these days. Once it is uploaded, it loses all its value. Sally knows this better than most but once your pictures are up for people to steal, nothing is yours anymore. Music is no different.