ANTHRAX Guitarist Says The Music Business Is Getting Worse And Worse

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian recently spoke to Kaffeine Buzz about the current state of the music industry. "It's getting worse and worse with the labels consolidating more and more," he said. "And it's becoming harder and harder for any band. I get emails from people all the time through our web site asking, 'What kind of advice can you give to a guy starting up a new band?' And my advice is, 'Go ride your snowboard.'

"It's so different now than it was in '84 or '85 when we signed with Island [Records]. Now you get one shot, one single and that's it, if you're even lucky enough to get the label behind you as a priority for that one single. There are a hundred other bands that may get signed and get to make a record, and they don't even get any promotion or marketing put behind it. But if you're lucky enough to at least get the priority, then the label puts a shitload of cash behind your first single. But God forbid if the single doesn't hit or react, and you don't go platinum off your first single. Then you're done, you're over, you're finished and it's on to the next hundred bands they have to market.

"You have these radio guys going out to stations with 50 records that all sound the same. Well, a radio station isn't going to add 50 records. In a week, they're maybe going to add three. So it's basically who has the most money behind it. And then what happens with these baby bands is these labels spend millions of dollars just to break them, and they may sell a couple million records, but they still don't see any money because of how much they already spent. So it's really a nightmare now, and it's only getting worse. It's not going to get any better until the whole system collapses."