UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER: 'For New Bands, It's A Little Bit Difficult To Survive In The Business'

August 28, 2018

Former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. frontman spoke to U.K.'s TotalRock Radio about how the music business has evolved since he first started singing professionally more than four decades ago. "There's a lot of changes going on — let's say, to compare it to the '80s," he said (see video below). "I mean, a lot of things now with the social media and the download stuff. You don't sell that much CDs anymore. Especially for new bands, it's a little bit difficult to survive in the business. So most of the bands now are making money on touring and merchandising."

Asked what advice he would give to young and up-and-coming artists, Udo said: "What can I say to upcoming new bands? First of all, you have to believe in yourself, what you're doing, and don't follow any trends. Don't listen to people who say, 'You have to change that. You have to do this.' Believe in yourself, what you're doing, and I think that is a very, very important step.

"I can make a long story of this, but the problem is, in the old days, record companies were giving us support money, that you can go on tour, like we did in America and Europe," he continued. "For me, if I was to start again, I [wouldn't] want to sign a record deal. If you do everything over the social media stuff, sell everything over the media stuff, you make definitely more money than if you have a contract with a record company."

U.D.O.'s new album, "Steelfactory", will be released on August 31 via AFM.

Dirkschneider has spent the last two years touring under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner, performing classic ACCEPT songs for the last time. The trek, which was originally supposed to conclude with the band's North American run in January/February 2017, has now been extended through the fall of 2018.

Guitarist Stefan Kaufmann recently rejoined U.D.O. for the group's summer festival appearances.

In addition to Udo and his son Sven (drums),the DIRKSCHNEIDER and U.D.O. bands include bassist Fitty Wienhold and guitarist Andrey Smirnov.

Find more on Udo dirkschneider
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).