ROB ZOMBIE/Ex-OZZY OSBOURNE Bassist ROB 'BLASKO' NICHOLSON: 'Knowing Everything That I Know Now, I Don't Know That I Would Start A Band Now'

In a new interview with Music Industry Insights Worldwide - Equality & Diversity In The Music & Entertainment Industries, former Ozzy Osbourne and current Rob Zombie bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson, who is also a successful artist manager, was asked how artists are able to make money these days when the rise of short-form content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels has significantly shortened average attention spans — now estimated at roughly eight seconds — driving a major shift in how music is composed, produced and marketed. Blasko, whose management company has handled such artists as BLACK VEIL BRIDES and Zakk Wylde, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Knowing everything that I know now, I don't know that I would start a band now."

He continued: "It's kind of funny, 'cause I joke about this, that whenever my first band started in 1985, 1986, heavy metal was not a career choice in 1985 for a bunch of young kids. You did it because you loved it. You did it because everything about it was just part of your DNA. You had to get it out of you. We had to go play shows. We had to get in a van. We had to put ourselves in dangerous environments. And it was just who we were as kids at that time. And the thought of it was never about making money. It was never about a career. It was never about a job. It was just art, really, at the risk of sounding pretentious. But I almost kind of feel like that now.

"I don't know that you could look at music and how fragmented things are and look at it like that's a career choice. Not to sound like the old guy, but whenever we were younger, there was a lot of gatekeeping that kind of kept things in check. And what I mean by that is that you started a band, you made a demo, you kind of put it out there, and if a record label liked it, they would sign you and put out your record. And then that record would go in record stores, and people would either buy it or they wouldn't buy it. And people would either buy it enough to enable you to be able to go on tour and sell t-shirts and play in front of people and sell some tickets, or they wouldn't. And especially in the underground. It was a very simple kind of thing: make music, find someone to put it out, if you didn't have the ability to put it out yourself, put it out, and hopefully it connects. And that was really the process. And it either connected or it didn't, because not everyone that got a record deal and put out a record was a good band, and it certainly weeded out a lot of stuff, whereas now streaming has put everything in front of everybody, and it's a lot harder to get noticed. And then it's almost like option paralysis. If you are, like, 'Okay, we're gonna start a band and we're gonna make music.' But do we make a horizontal video that goes on YouTube? And then do we cut that up into vertical videos that go on TikTok? Are we mainly just gonna go on TikTok and play the song acoustically, and hopefully that connects? There's so many places to try and build a career, and all of those places are where careers have started. Careers have started on YouTube. Careers have started on Instagram. Careers have started on MySpace. Careers have started on TikTok. And so where do you even begin? It's almost like you kind of just do the best you can, throw it out there and hope for the best."

Blasko went on to say: "A lot of it, too, with all of these platforms, they're now at a point to where the algorithm is very constricting to the people that you can reach. So building a following used to be — that was the goal. Now you can build a following, but now your content won't even reach the majority of those people, which is really frustrating. And then now that gatekeeping has sort of reappeared in the way of advertising. So it's, like, 'Oh, you wanna reach those extra people that you can't reach that are outside of the scope of your algorithm? Well, that's gonna cost you.' And so if you want people to see your video on YouTube or you wanna reach more people on Instagram, you gotta pay to advertise. And there's a whole other component of, what is your budget? What does your budget even look like? And then how is that music gonna connect? That's the other thing."

Blasko added: "The value of a band that makes music to someone that could potentially propel your career — a manager, a booking agent, a record label — you have to have a fanbase. Fans are the only currency that is going to elevate you, if in fact you are looking to partner with someone that you think can help elevate you. But if there is no fanbase and you have not done the work to cultivate a fanbase, then you will not find any partners that can help you elevate, because what it says, if you have no fans and you have no sales, to the outside industry it means that your music isn't connecting. And if it's not connecting, there's nothing that I can do that can help you connect. And so now the responsibility of the artist is to build that fanbase."

Blasko has been a recording and touring musician since he was 16 years old. His career began with the seminal hardcore thrash band CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER, signed to Metal Blade Records in 1985. The band released three records for the label between 1986 and 1988. He eventually went on to become the bass player for such heavy metal heavyweights as Rob Zombie and Ozzy. In early 2005, he co-founded the artist management and marketing company Mercenary Management, Inc.

Blasko was a member of Rob Zombie's band from 1997 through 2006, playing bass on the first three Zombie albums: "Hellbilly Deluxe", "The Sinister Urge" and "Educated Horses". He rejoined Zombie's band in January 2024 as the replacement for Matt "Piggy D." Montgomery, who is now performing with Marilyn Manson.

Nicholson originally left Zombie in May 2006 in order to join Ozzy's recording/touring band.

Rob Zombie's current band consists of Zombie, Blasko, returning guitarist Mike Riggs and drummer Ginger Fish, who has played with Rob since 2011.