It had to be a bit of a shock for some of the old rock performers when they discovered their royalties were drying up from the plunge in sales of their music.
Along with most people in the industry, they didn't see the disruption the Internet would bring to their bottom line.
You can tell those who didn't take advantage of the years they brought in huge amounts of money in their prime: they're now on the concert circuit.
Germany in particular has been scathing of the acts, as they have just about everyone of the oldtimers performing in the lucrative German concert market. Germany is the largest economy in all of Europe, the reason it's so desirable.
One German music critic said of the performers, "The question is 'why are they bothering?'," said Harald Peters, culture editor and music critic of the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "Some of these groups are just plain burned out. Others are just old and boring.
"They're getting torn to shreds in reviews. I'm not saying all of them should have stopped at 40. But with some, it's so bizarre and you wonder why. Do they need the money? Didn't they get an education? Can't they do anything else for a living?"
His rhetorical question of "Do they need the money?" is actually the reality. All these entertainers simply burned through when they were young, and expected the royalities to pay for their lifestyles as the aged. It hasn't worked out that way for them.
I'm not sure how long the trend will last, but band after band and performer after performer is hitting the concert circuit, obviously in need of money. It's nothing more than that, even if the performers give the love of music, performance, etc. as the reasons they are touring again.
Many of the venues have had to be downsized and prices cut to get enough people to make it worthwhile.
Either way, with the loss of royalties, I think we're not going to see the cutting back of the old-time bands and performers anytime soon.
Some of them may be in trouble though as Germany is one of the better run concert circuits. If they can't gather interest there, they're going to have trouble drawing interest anywhere.
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