254 euros for a song on CD: Vinnie Vincent calls fans “ungrateful losers” in an angry statement and compares his art to caviar.
Vinnie Vincent, ex-Kiss guitarist, has sworn off streaming platforms. His solo music is now only available in physical formats. He sold a Christmas release – which only contained a single single on CD – for several hundred euros each. The exorbitant price caused headwinds for the musician. Now he justified himself via social media.
254.59 euros for single “Ride The Serpent”
The 73-year-old sold his solo single “Ride The Serpent” on CD at Christmas for a hefty price: US citizens had to shell out $225 – the equivalent of 191.08 euros. For everyone else, the price increased to $300 because of shipping costs – that corresponds to an amount of 254.59 euros. According to the artist’s own statement, these are signed collector’s copies, of which only 500 pieces existed. The sum was set so high especially to prevent pirated copies, Vincent said in his accompanying announcement. Now the guitarist responded to a user comment on a Facebook fan page with a long-winded, clear explanation.
His music is a luxury item that not everyone can afford
At the beginning of his statement, the musician compared his art to the luxury good “caviar” and responded to the user who explained to him why the price was too high for him and accused him of disproportionality: “Who the hell are you to accept such a theory because you can’t afford it or don’t agree with my price… Oh, but you expect a fair market price of 18.99…? Fair market price? Lol. Those are bygone days. Welcome to the new agenda. Artists can and will set their own standards and rules for the purchase price of their art – provided there are one or more valuable artists left outside of the known list.”
Overestimation of oneself and shifting problems?
Vinnie Vincent defended the chosen amount as follows: “My price protects me from people like ‘you’ who buy cheaply from bootleggers who steal from me. If you don’t like what I do, what I look like, what I say, what I sell, or anything or everything about me, then don’t come here. If you like what I do, then support the artist. You complain because it’s just one song??????. This one song is worth more than most entire albums. Be happy that it’s only 200… and that it’s even signed. Originally it was 300, but given the bad economy, I lowered the price to 200. If you don’t like that… That’s YOUR PROBLEM… NOT MINE.”
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Clear words with a core of truth
Finally, the artist expressed sharp criticism of colleagues, fans, streaming services, labels and the Internet: “If artists had balls in their pants, they would band together and stop all free gifts, stop pandering to fans and bring everything back to where it started. No free access. No free downloads and finally start making money again. Artists are unprotected. The Internet has destroyed the fire, the passion, the creativity and the artist himself. No artist wants their music giving away for free to ungrateful, self-aggrandizing losers. If an artist isn’t protected by a label, there’s no incentive to release their music.”
Artists in a mob mood
Vincent is currently very active on Facebook. In further comments, he announced that 2026 would be a big “year of music releases” for him, that he had no interest in working with a label and that he was “one of the few artists who wouldn’t pander.” The $225 or $300 for a single seems like just the tip of the iceberg. The musician offers handwritten lyrics from the band’s past days in his merch shop, which are offered in various versions and are priced between $3,500 and $125,000.