Gene Simmons Targeted By Hackers
Original story here:
It used to be me, me, me.
Now it’s you, you, you.
Suddenly, you work for your customers, your fans, not the record company, not radio, not MTV, but the people who actually foot the bill. Just ask Dell. Trying to save money, the Texas computer company outsourced tech support to India and customer frustration was expressed online and the company has literally never recovered from the Dell Hell backlash.
I’m sick and tired of Gene Simmons saying musicians are only in it for the money and only being about the money himself.
Gene’s still living in the seventies. When fans had no real access to stars. The fact that Gene could not see the coming backlash to his comments illustrates that he’s just not as smart as he thinks he is, certainly not as informed.
I’m not condoning people taking down his sites. I don’t condone illegal activity. But just because there are laws that doesn’t eliminate lawless behavior. You must use hands-free devices to speak on cell phones while driving in California, but out in the street you’re constantly confronted by scofflaws yakking away as they slow down, go faster, weave from lane to lane and…
In other words, as we learned in law school, you might have the right, but do you have the power?
Gene’s got little power to shut down the hackers. If he only realized you get ahead by getting in bed with your audience, treating them nicely. I don’t know if Gene treated all those sexual conquests so well, whether they’re testifying as to his skills, but he had it right. You go directly to your fans. In the seventies, that meant sleeping with them. In the twenty first century, that means being their virtual friend, giving them free goods and selling them exclusive merchandise that they’re dying to own.
Speaking of dying, instead of promoting the KISS Koffin or that bullshit bass, why don’t you sell virtual goods Gene? What’s that adage, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em? Instead of shutting down the haters, join in with the online lovers. I doubt it’s KISS fans attacking your site. It was dumb to antagonize those hackers. Today you don’t worry about the haters, you placate the lovers!
Where are the virtual KISS outfits? Fans would love to tend their online farms dressed as Gene and Paul. Gene could even have a virtual KISS world, charging fans to dress up like him and speak with his avatar, which could be run by a lackey. KISS could do virtual shows online. Instead of trying to blast everybody into the past, Gene Simmons could make more money not only making peace with the present, but getting onboard and making money in the future.
The money’s there. For those who build fanbases, maintain the lines of communication and treat each and every customer like he’s the last one you’ve got.
Wannabes know all this. Only the oldsters are clueless. Soon the wannabes will be players and the oldsters will be retired. If you don’t want to be set out to the virtual pasture, stop fighting battles you can’t win and use the new tools to make a fortune. The money’s there. In excess of $2 billion in virtual goods in 2011:
Go get it!
As of this writing, http://www.genesimmons.com/ still does not load.
