Godsmack Drummer: "he New World Of Downloading One Song Bothers Me"
GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin recently told Scott McLennan of Worcester Telegram & Gazette that the fact that the group's new album, "IV", does have a thematic arc makes it a rather risky album to release in the iPod age, especially for a band that has built its career with a string of hit singles.
"The new world of downloading one song bothers me," Larkin said. "Rob Zombie said it best when he said that if you took KISS' 'Destroyer' and just downloaded the song 'Beth', that wouldn’t be an accurate representation of what KISS was trying to get across with that album."
But Larkin, who admittedly loves the album concept, said that the art form is in trouble.
"Our manager Paul Geary gave us all iPods for Christmas one year, and he said, 'This is the future.’ He really thinks the CD will even be obsolete in five years, and that everyone is going to simply be downloading 'Godsmack VII' as a whole record."
GODSMACK is currently on the road with ROB ZOMBIE and SHINEDOWN for the mother of all rock shows this summer.
"It was one of those things managers put together," Larkin said, describing in the most unglamorous but honest way GODSMACK and ZOMBIE, another Massachusetts native, came together. "We needed something that would appeal to the promoters. We're good for a 6,000- to-8,000 seater, but we wanted a way to play places that added 3,000 to 4,000 seats."
At this point in its career, GODSMACK knows what its job is, but that doesn't make things necessarily easier.
"We all have families and children now. When I was packing my bag to leave for six weeks, I wasn't all excited. I was sad to leave my wife and kids," Larkin said. "And the older you get, touring is less of a party and more fatigue on the body."
Read the full article at Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Source: Blabbermouth
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14 Comments on "Godsmack Drummer On Downloading One Song At A Time"
Former Contributor
2. writes:
The album is only in danger with regards to the "shallow market"....For Godsmack this may be a problem, for Tool, Metallica, Opeth and Pig Destroyer it will not.
Those bands have followings that want every note they can get when said band releases something new.
Who here downloaded "Redneck" or "Cult" from Lamb of God or Slayer?.....And who downloaded or purchased the whole album?.....I'm willing to bet most of you bought the whole package.
Theres a distinct differnece in how -most- metal fans listen to their music and how most pop, hip hop and mainstream rock fans listen to theirs.
Metal fans tend to favor bands and their albums vs hit songs, becuase modern metal is short on "hit songs"....We either like Mastodon or we don't....It's rare when someone says: "Oh dont they have that one song you hear all the time, "Blood and Thunder?..."
It's a no-brainer that the album is in more jeopardy than ever...Wasn't this making headlines in 2000 when Lars sh** his diaper about Napster?....
Any band with a serious following is going to cater to the album format..If the artist(s) want to tell a story (complete with lofty "concept arcs") they have a track listing order to do it with.
It's not like it would be practical for a band to hole up in a studio for 72 hours, write, record, mix and master one song, hand the producer his cut and bolt out the door touring behind "hit single" for 2-10 monthes then start over.
3. writes:
I'm hoping the ipod (or any other purely digital feedout) doesn't ever replace CD's. I'm the type of person that want's the art work, wants to hold the case and disc, wants to keep it untarnished for a life-time of listening pleasure... I don't watch many movies, but I might compare this to the DVD era of cinema... VHS is now obsolete, so are 8-tracks, cassettes and 8 bit videogame systems... how complex does something need to be? sh**, Ozzy can't even operate a satellite TV. And I've never touched an I-pod... Technologically impaired? Possibly, but unlikely haha.
In 25 years I'd like to be able to show someone my CD collection without having them go "what the hell are those? Coasters?... You know there's a hole in this one?"
Concept albums are good and need to be experienced in totality.
But I could give 2-turds about Godsmack.
Member
4. writes:
RM? you make some great points. And I agree, mainstream music is in more trouble than metal when it comes to CD's vs. fully digital. I'm hoping it is a while before it comes to the point where record companies stop producing CD's altogether. The profit margin has to be much greater for MP3's compared to CD's. I download very few songs, if I do it is to test a band to see if they are a sound I would get into. If I like it, I'll buy the disc, if I don't, it probably gets erased or at least never listened to again. Mastodon is a great example of a band where the complete album is better than any single they may put out.
kt, I also check the liner notes, artwork and photos of every cd I get. I couldn't imagine not having something of substance to show for buying music. The liner notes are oftentimes works of art in and of themselves.
5. writes:
I think a singles market will produce some good results. Lots of records have filler on them and some groups only have one good song in them. It will make making records more challenging-not everyone has a "Thriller" in them. The one thing that does suck is that not every song *should* be a single and bands will get pigeon-holed a lot more often. I do think there is some value in a Tool album cover or a (f*** I'm old) Yes triple fold-not only did it help sell the record, but it gave you a vibe that you were getting something different. It's gonna be interesting to see how bands adapt...
9. writes:
i also hope that i-pods or any other form of technology dont replace cds. I flip through the lyrics, art and side notes even before i take the cd out of the case. call it a ritual. but, i also dont see cds ever being replaced because of the 'value' of mainstreem statistics. album sales = awards = hype = INDUSTRY PROFITS!!! and all of the glorious sh** that goes along with them. however, i can also see them maybe dismantling cds and only going by album downloads etc. it would certainly be cheaper and at a $1 a song, could yeild even higher returns. but since not everyone has a computer in the world, that isnt the most practical thing to do at this point. and since metal tends to appreciate the whole package and rebel against the mainstream to uphold their ideals, i can also see metal bands keep the "old-school, time tested art of the cd" and do both methods. which they do now.
10. writes:
Its just hard to say, Terminator-I love the ritual of looking through a CD too, but I'm working with bands and music projects now and the cost vs non cost CD vs Download is an issue. It seems there needs to be a new medium which adds value to the whole process. In other words-what would add the same value/ritual to the experience? Madonna used to scent her CD's-a brilliant marketing move that adds value to the experience by creating a memory and an association to a particular thing/experience.
I look at this situation as an artist and business guy who wants to create a situation where the buyer gets the value and the convienience of the two combined...
11. writes:
wow, so madonna's cds were sh** (skank) in more ways than one huh?
yeah, i can certainly understand that. and it is inevidable. eventually cds will be replaced just as they replaced cassettes and vinyl. personally, the cd to me is the perfect package. nice size, great quality and durability, enough room and sides to express yourself furthur artistically, and room for lyrics, explanations, breif history etc. and on top of that you can easily change songs. all things previous methods (cassettes and vinyl) lacked.
Supporter
13. writes:
I do see Ipod's becomeing the way of the future but not any time soon.Which is good for me because I don't necessarily like the concept.However in it's defense a friend of mine who has allready embraced the trend recently showed me something really cool on his Mac.
You can actually down load the cover of any and every CD you down load onto your computer and theirfore you can down load this onto your Ipod assumeing you've got enough memory.Whether or not this is with all computer's or just Mac's.I don't know but it's still pretty cool.It even organizes thing's according to which disc came first and what song is on what disc.You gotta admit that's kinda sweet.
Former Contributor
14. writes:
Agreed.
I've downloaded albums from Isis, Converge, LOG and Pig Destroyer just because none of the three good independently owned record stores had them. Was worth the time and attention span it took to download that clunky iTunes program.
What sucks is you have to burn the music as m4p to a disc and then copy the music off the disk as mp3 if you want them on your Winamp (3350 songs and growing for me) or whatever computer player you mite have.
As far as mp3 players you can haul around with you, for the dollar you can't beat Sandisk Sansa. It's great if you jog, lift etc.
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Member
1. evilcheeba writes:
I agree that the "album concept" of making music is in some trouble. The digital age has brought some great opportunities for bands to get their sound out on the cheap for the fans but it may have had the unwanted effect of killing whole records and making the single huge. Pink Floyd's works wouldn't be apprectiated now as they were in the past, they had some good songs but the albums has a whole were greater than the sum of their parts. Many other bands have released cool concept albums that we may never see again.