Anthrax‘s Scott Ian has taken the time to clarify some statements he recently gave regarding the music industry in this interview with Loud. The exchange in particular that made some waves can be read below:
“Q: We’ve Come For You All is actually one of my favourite Anthrax records. Why do you consider it to be under-rated?
A: I guess, I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in the States it just really, the label it was on at the time, Sanctuary they basically went out of business at some point while that record was out.So it really didn’t get what it deserved as far as having a label behind it and really working what was a great album. So I still think, there’s not even thousands, but tens of thousands of people certainly in the States that probably don’t even know about that record.
Q: Labels seem to be falling by the wayside in the current musical climate. What’s your take on the future of the music industry, with regard to bands creating and releasing music?
A: I don’t even know – I don’t care; I have no idea (laughs). I really don’t give a shit about the industry. If anything, nothing would make me happier than, other than some of the good people who actually have jobs that would be hurting if they lost their gigs.But as far as I’m concerned, I can only hope that the whole industry collapses and has to start over, or figure out something else, because I really have nothing good to say about the record industry. When you think about the billions and billions of dollars that labels ripped off from bands from the 1940s all the way through to the 1990s, and now they complain about nobody buys records anymore. Well, whose fault is that, you know?
These companies, corporations and individuals literally stole billions of dollars and you’ve got artists, bands who no longer exist and are literally like, a step away from being homeless, or living in assisted living places, whatever it is. But you don’t see most musicians retiring and living out the rest of their lives because they got some millions and millions of dollars’ cash settlement, just to leave a record label.
The whole fucking thing is insanity, the way record labels were run. Especially in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s when bands were really getting ripped off.”
Speaking through his Twitter last night (January 25th) he offered:
“Just to clarify what I said about the music industry collapsing in an interview recently… I’m not talking about independent labels like @Megaforce, @nuclearblasteu, Metal Blade etc etc.
These labels have changed the business and have found models that work and they are not only fair to the bands they sign, they actually will work at developing a band the way it used to be done when we first started.
The majors are no place for rock/metal any more & if you’re a huge band you’re better off doing it yourself. That’s the point I was making.”
