Aerosmith: 'records don't make sense'

[Magic]

Aerosmith see "almost no reason" to ever make another album. The band's drummer has revealed that the group have given up plans for a follow-up to 2012's Music from Another Dimension, claiming that there's not enough money for records to "make sense".

"It would be great to make another record, but it's almost, why bother?" Joey Kramer told Ultimate Classic Rock magazine. "Records don't sell, and they don't do anything … There's almost no reason to do it, you know, judging from the last one and how it went over."

Music from Another Dimension was the lowest-selling album of Aerosmith's career, peaking at No 5 in the US and No 14 in the UK. But Kramer says it's "a really good record" that's "[still] going to be played 20 years from now". "Certain things held it back," he said, suggesting the poor state of the music industry affected the success of the album.

"We used to make a lot of money on records," Kramer explained. "Now all of our money is made on touring." And although "artistically, it would be fun to make another record", "to what avail?" he asked. "Music now is so disposable … We're not the Justin Biebers and the Nicki Minajs of the world, so unfortunately, records don't make sense."

Aerosmith are among the bestselling bands of all time.
Aerosmith: 'records don't make sense' | Music | theguardian.com

 

[HonkinOnBobo]

Makes sense to me

 

[Magnus59]

This is becoming a big problem, and not only in the music industry.
The way we consume entertainment and information has changed radically in a relatively short time.

There was always something special about a new album, especially in the days of vinyl, but today's generation don't seem to have the same passion about owning a physical item, they just want to consume the music.

I am in the printing industry and we have the same problem, people don't want to buy books, they just want to consume the content, sometimes with the misguided belief that they are saving the planet, despite the carbon footprint of electronic books being greater than that of a physical book.

I still get great joy from getting out my records and playing them on a turntable, I feel sad that future generations will not have record collections, books and photo albums to share with their children and grandchildren.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Seriously because a band had their lowest sales which would likely equal the highest some hungry new bands have made and keep going.

"And although "artistically, it would be fun to make another record", "to what avail?"

Seriously, with all the success they've had that should be merit enough at this point! There are plenty of modern bands and artist doing just fine with their album and are happy with the success they've had. I've bought so many albums from these apparent primadonnas but it's apparently not enough unless they hit number one or pad their pockets!

 

[Sharp Dressed Man]

"Records don't sell, and they don't do anything … There's almost no reason to do it, you know, judging from the last one and how it went over."

If making a record was about artistic values rather than making more money for them, he wouldn't think like that.

 

[Soot and Stars]

If making a record was about artistic values rather than making more money for them, he wouldn't think like that.

Thank you! I seriously think they deserve a Metallica level backlash for this whining crap!

 

[LG]

To deny the change in the musical landscape is to deny the reality of the world we live in now.

Things have changed drastically over the last 20 years at a rate nobody in the business could have foreseen.

I do agree that many old bands/artists come across like they are whining about sales etc., but the shift to buying single songs is going to wreak havoc on the way music is recorded, it could be within 5 years a full album will be an anomaly and we'll be fed a steady stream of "EP's", maybe a half dozen songs at a time by artists. The only ones who might still make full albums are mega-stars like Lady Gaga, Madonna etc.

 

[Vehicle]

There was always something special about a new album, especially in the days of vinyl, but today's generation don't seem to have the same passion about owning a physical item, they just want to consume the music.

I've said it here plenty...there's no anticipation, no waiting, wondering what the new cuts will be like.

I'm not coming down on this generation. They use the resources available to them, same as we did in our time.

Anyone can get any song the very second it's recorded, without waiting in line for the record store to open the day the album is released. Literally.

There were lines, because that was the only way to get the new record.

And you young folks out there, I'm not exaggerating on this. Every old timer here has spent time in lines waiting for music. It was that important to us.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying we're more dedcated or anything along those lines.

It's just that those were the only options. Trust me, if we had the option of getting tix or albums from the recliner back then, that's how I'd have done it.

That's how I do it now. I got seats for Mellencamp & a good sized room for the night in the time it took for Vikings to get back from a commercial break.

I still, however, go to the music stores to get my music, unless you can't get it there. (that's a whole different can of worms, though).

 

[Musikwala]

The most depressing thing to me is not even that records "don't make sense" anymore. It is that many albums are not even available in CD stores anymore. There are so many artists and albums out there these days that only the mainstream stuff is available in CD stores. At least, this is true for South Africa. I do not know about the US presently. For example: I will not be able to find a Tame Impala album here no matter how much I try. So the only option for me is downloading.

The other thing... which is really my own problem is, I can't keep collecting CDs forever and ever. Whenever I move from here and go to another country or go back to India, I'd have to pay shitloads in freight.

Those are to me the most depressing things about the present time. Bah!

 

[Sharp Dressed Man]

,Whenever I move from here and go to another country or go back to India, I'd have to pay shitloads in freight. ,

Tell me about it. We are moving from Austria to Greece in a couple of months and I've got shitloads of records to take with me..... not to mention all the other stuff of course!

Concerning the topic at hand, one thing that REALLY bothers me lately, is how many bands are promoting their own mp3 albums, rather than saying our album is now on sale in record stores. Dunno if anyone else has noticed this trend? If I was in a band, I sure as hell would not be promoting the mp3 version of my album. Seems like shooting myself in the foot.