Rich Fiscus
19 Jun 2008 1:02
Kid Rock is part of an exclusive club whose only other members are The Beatles, Garth Brooks, and AC/DC. What do thse artists have in common? They're major artists whose music isn't sold on iTunes. In Kid Rock's case there is actually one album being sold by the online music giant, but that's just because he doesn't own the rights to it.
So why doesn't he want to sell his music on iTunes? It's simple really. He sees it as simply a continuation of the way labels have treated artists for decades. In his words, "iTunes takes the money, the record company takes the money, and they don't give it to the artists"
In a recent interview with the BBC he talked about his reaction to Atlantic Records executives asking him to take a stand against file sharing. "Wait a second," he said, "you've been stealing from the artists for years. Now you want me to stand up for you?"
"I was telling kids - download it illegally, I don't care. I want you to hear my music so I can play live."
And his disgust with iTunes? Actually disgust is probably too strong a word. More like dissappointment. It seems like he had some hope for selling music on the internet at one point. He saw it a "an opportunity for everyone to be treated fairly, for the consumer to get a fair price, for the artist to be paid fairly, for the record companies to make some money."
And even he admits he'll have to give in and let iTunes sell his music eventually. But that's really not the point. The point is he's making a statement because he can afford to. He's not hurting for sales, and certainly isn't running low on money.
Apparently he's not running low on priciples either. In the music business that probably puts him in another exclusive club.