Hey beat hit and Paul Marangoni,
First of all, make no mistake, as a drummer I have nothing but the utmost respect and appreciation of Vinnie's work.
I don't think I know of any other drummer with a higher general standard of excellence and versatility.
Secondly, in an interview about the general state of the union for musical artists, I will pick out any relevant comment
and dissect them in accordance with my understanding. You don't get to choose what's important to me.
I am fully aware of the pains of recording artists and the diminishing of royalties and general income that the digitisation of
the industry has led to. Do I think that legislation against technology is the way forward? NO.
Do I think that putting your money where your mouth is, would be demanding more respect? Absolutely.
If Vinnie is as fed up as he wants us to believe in that interview, it makes no sense that he keeps supporting that model by
playing on recordings that are shared digitally through streaming services.
While I recognise that Neil Young had very little success with his
pono project, I do hold him in the highest regard for trying
to actively do something about the quality of digital musical consumption.
An even better example is
Patreon, a concept founded by Jack Conte, one of my favourite contemporary artists.
With Patreon, I get to financially back artists (I currently back 3) on an ongoing basis. I simply contribute to their everyday well-being by sending them
small amounts of money every month.
I backed both of those projects economically because they are searching for ways to change a poor state of affairs and lead the way in a specific area.
I would likely do the same if Vinnie (or anyone else) came up with a viable idea for getting money directly back into the hands of recording artists.
But I have little appreciation for moaning; especially when coming from possibly the most saught after and well-paid drummer alive.