SHINEDOWN Frontman On Music Streaming And Diminishing Record Sales: 'You've Got To Adjust'

SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith says that he doesn't believe changes in the way people consume music are restricting an artist's ability to make a living.

"It's the 'Moneyball' thing again; you've got to adjust," Smith told the Lincoln Journal Star in a new interview. "I hear an older generation of bands pissing on streaming and downloading. Let me do you a service here — you're essentially ruining your fan base by excluding a generation. It's old guys and old girls complaining that they're not making as much money anymore."

With music streaming cannibalizing record sales and leaving them at historic lows, Smith says that musical spending has shifted to live shows.

"It's actually enhanced and given a shot to the touring industry and has given employment to hundreds, thousands of people," he said. "It's led to more venues being built and used, more shows and more people coming out."

Smith's SHINEDOWN bandmate, guitarist Zach Myers, said in a 2017 interview that he prefers buying and owning physical product over streaming music . "I still want to get a record," he told Rock Sins. "I don't even have Pandora, I don't have Spotify or Apple Music. I go and buy albums if I hear one song that I like. I don't buy the song — I go and buy the entire album. If it sucks, it sucks, and a lot of times it does. I hear the song and I go and buy the record and listen to the record and I'll be disappointed, but I bought the record."

He continued: "In the digital age, there's not much nostalgia hanging around. This day and age doesn't make room for what will be nostalgia in the future, so for me, if I can buy an album and hold it in my hand, it brings me back to being 12 or 13 and having those records that I really really loved. I think we all have that feeling of those records that you hold and you remember the first time you listened to it. That's the feeling that I have that I like a lot."

"Attention Attention", SHINEDOWN's sixth studio album, debuted at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart back in May 2018.

SHINEDOWN kicked off its 2019 "Attention Attention" world tour on February 20 in Estero, Florida at Hertz Arena.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine