Heard on the radio today (Sirius Satellite Radio to be precise) that Ozzy Osbourne is blaming illegal music downloads on the poor showing of his latest record – Black Rain. So I kicked back with a glass of red and read the entire article… of which his opinion on music downloading is a very SMALL part.
That said – illegal downloading is not the reason Ozzy’s album sales are tanking.
First and foremost, he’s sober. Secondly, he’s old. Third, his marketing stinks.
In the grand cavalcade of madness that is Ozzy Osbourne, what stands out? The bat, the
I’ve spent more money at Ozzfest in the past 5 years than I have on his records in the past 15. I could handle the $100 tickets, and the $10 beers and burritos. It all fit. Ozzy ramps up the corporate stink, eliminates the entry fee and all of a sudden… record sales matter.
Do you honestly believe that Ozzy bit the head off a bat or pissed on the
The fact is – this is the twilight of the guy’s career. He’s the antithesis to the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, and is likely just as successful as the other hard rockers in rockers. Sadly he’s actually buying in to the music industry’s bullshit and as a result – he’s losing money.
The difference here is – Aerosmith and the Stones still remember where the real money was made on the way up – touring and promotion. A free tour and no obvious promotion? Only the hardcore fans are buying the records and nobody every got rich off of their hardcore fans.
They make their money off of fans like me, and I haven’t heard any innovation out of the Osbourne camp since the damned television show on MTV.
