Soil bassist Tim King has stated the glory days of rock'n'roll are over – but young bands will still have to endure heavy sacrifices if they want to make it.
And he thinks TV gameshows have damaged the music industry to such an extend that the next big thing to make it could well be just another novelty act.
King tells KickActs: “I feel sorry for new bands – they’ll never get to feel what it’s like to be wined and dined. The days of excess are over; it’s all bare bones these days.
“It’s so tough to sell records and technology is killing everything. Streaming on Spotify and Pandora is killing the sale of songs and albums.”
He puts part of the blame on gameshows like The X Factor and The Voice, saying: “They make a mockery out of the business. They mock people that have no business even being in TV, then they take the real talent and brutalise them into competition.”
The result is that bands starting out today may have to work as hard as Soil did in their early era – for much less reward.
King’s advice is: “Give it all you have. If you don’t want to sacrifice everything to make it, and I mean everything: family, relationships, children, weddings, funerals, jobs, house car – then just do it as a hobby because you won’t make it otherwise. Well, unless you’re rich to begin with.”
The unreal situation means he despairs of the next act to be hailed as the great hope of the music business. “Who the hell knows?” he says. “It could be a bunch of clowns playing the skin flute for all I know – and it probably will be.”
