Downloaders Confuse Ozzy Osbourne to Go on Tour
Written by enigmax on November 02, 2007When he isn’t biting the heads off live animals or starring in a hugely popular reality show, Ozzy Osbourne is still making music. Unfortunately, he’s had to go on tour because people keep downloading his music: “I’ve been suffering terribly” he mumbled, while counting his next million dollars.
Everyone seems to like Ozzy Osbourne, the Birmingham (UK) born ex-frontman of mega-group ‘Black Sabbath’, reality TV star and now, hugely successful solo artist. Since getting kicked out of Black Sabbath for his drink and drugs habits, Ozzy has sold a a staggering 50 million albums so it’s probably safe to say he has a few dollars hidden away. However, Ozzy is not happy.
In a great interview with Herald Sun he covers many issues but of course we’re interested in his views on file-sharing. Talking about his music, he said:
“I’ve been suffering terribly from people downloading it. If they don’t find something to stop it, people won’t be able to make records. There won’t be any new bands. How are they going to survive? I’m an old-timer, I’ve been doing it 40 years now, but new bands are going to suffer. It’s ridiculous, you could be doing it for nothing.”
Maybe bands will have to innovate with new ideas – such as that from Radiohead which appears to be catching on now that it became clear that they made a fortune. Or maybe take the Prince approach and give your music away in a newspaper? Either way, bands realize that if the fans hear their music, they’ll come to the gigs and happily spend money on the merchandising.
You can’t beat ‘live’ and Sharon Osbourne – Ozzy’s wife and business manager and creator of Ozzfest – explained this to him:
“Sharon said I’d be astounded to find out how many bands are touring because you can download a record but you can’t beat a rock show.”
Absolutely true. Every person who downloads Ozzy’s material is yet another potential fan and more likely to help in the aim of filling his live gigs, and judging by the number of shows he’s performing in ‘to make ends meet’, that assistance will be well received:
“I’ve never done in a long time as many live shows as I’m doing now. This year I’ve done 90 shows.”
Despite being heralded as a ‘God-Like Genius’ in 2004 by NME magazine, Ozzy has been known to show more human traits, such as bewilderment and confusion – and this interview is no different. Despite ’suffering terribly’ at the hands of downloaders, Ozzy isn’t ready for retirement yet and appears happy with his record sales:
“I did try that but I’ve still got life in my bones. I’m still selling lots of records.”
But what about his future prospects?
“It seems to be getting bigger and bigger” says Ozzy.
Don’t ever change Ozzy, things just wouldn’t be the same.
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61 Responses
he is ugly, who cares.
Who the fuck cares what ozzy osbourne thinks? he should be a tramp with no money in my mind… he’s a fucked up, ugly scab.
double comments 1 and two.
Ozzy is shit as a solo artist but when he was in Sabbath they all rocked!
Hes got enough money to lose a few albums to the downloaders!
Just remember those real music fans always buy the albums from the new bands and people that struggle to make it big but actually have talent!
Yea but see Ozzy probably drank, smoked and snorted alot of his fortune…so making more money for his retirement seems to appeal to him…
that make most of there money touring so whats the big deal
I thought it was Sharon that was forcing Ozzy to go back on tour so she can get some more spending money?
Here’s a hint Ozzy: Maybe it’s indeed the fact that you’ve been doing it for 40 years. You don’t appeal to most younger people, you sure as hell don’t appeal to me. I wouldn’t pay a dime for your music, let alone the 5 minutes it would take me to download it. What you create is worthless, so it only makes sense that you’re getting nothing for it.
Besides, maybe if you hadn’t snorted all your money up your nose you’d have a hefty sum left over to retire on. If all you’re in it now is for the money, just fuck off and die already.
Re: Prince.
I bought the newspaper that had the free cd with it. No, I’m not a Prince fan but I thought it was at least a try at bringing the industry into the 21st century. For that alone he gets a pat on the back from me.
Ozzy on the other hand is a rock dinosaur. And we all know what became of dinosaurs…
You guys sounds like little stupid kids, grow up and talk like men!
He blew his money on drugs and shit, and now he wants to blame it on downloaded music?? Ozzy, you’re a waste of blood and organs.
[quote]“I’ve been suffering terribly from people downloading it.”[/quote]
Nooooo, what you’re suffering from is a lifetime of self abuse – its called consequence.
He’s just a little confused, as the title says, on how downloading actually helps out new bands by distributing their work more broadly as opposed to inhibiting distribution [in the form of sales]. He’s ozzy. Its okay.
ps. extra waffles invite? younhafa[at]gmail.com
Also, I’m pretty sure he’s one of the artists who like to shout their mouths off about doing it for the music rather than the money, whereas this article totally contradicts that.
Speaking for myself, and hopefully many others, when I download a music file that I find especially good, I will go and buy it for my cd collection.
I have to admitt that I have never bought an Ozzy album and certainly never plan too. This is especially so after reading his take on file sharing.
This was such a stupid and pointless post.
Strange how he said that when his last Ozzfest tour was FREE. Remember that Ozzy? Oh ya ba ba ba ba studder.
I reckon he’s basically being told that by the record company…while they pocket 9/10ths of the money that he should be getting from the albums.
Dude. It’s fucking Ozzy. His Black Sabbath albums give him a pass for pretty much anything.
Come on you dont appeal to us younger generation and youve had like no hits….retire.
He’s confused. That’s cute.
he’s had to go on tour because people keep downloading his music: “I’ve been suffering terribly” he mumbled,
Sorry: What didn’t get smoked, snorted, shot up in your skag arm or in a glass probably was stolen by the record compaies dude. Your a bleepin’ DINOSAUR. DIE already and let the record companies BURY you so we can have some more OIL to run our automobiles you worthless fuck!
It is a bit rich for a convicted thief (he was a good robber in the old days back here in Brum, was or Ozzie; unfortunately when he nicked his next door neighbors telly he went to far and ended up doing a little time) to start lecturing on downloading.
he’s old, lost and stupid right now.
a corperate sellout is what he is right now.
Whats happening right now is that HOLLYWOOD/ Record companies are paying off long ago bought out politicians and Law Enforcment….theres a story already here about someone in Germany getting two bloody years in Jail for downloading a movie..GEE, lets not worry about rapists and murderers, terrorists, ETC…lets criminilize copyright infringement…thats evil. Bought out by corporations…
VOTE them out …no one will miss them.
i don’t know this guy.
What a retard…
ozzy is a fucking legend.\
he dont need to be ran through the mud just cause hes a lil confused about filesharing. jeesh
I AM IRON MAN /crazy train who said he had no hits damn.
He was only good in Black Sabbath and Respect for Ozzy,you sound like a kid yourself, get a grip, Ozzys a twat and snorted and drank his money away so did his kids and he raked it all in again with his shitty TV show and he sold himself out once he left Sabbath!
who cares about his drug use like you guys never did any?
hes just all fucked in the head
hell he dont look like he has much longer :-)
thats his shit to deal with,
yeah i just turned 30 a few days ago thanks for the kid compliment.
Grow up indeed.
Without ozzy u wouldn’t have the half the metal bands out there.
Show some respect.
#31
don’t care dude… he’s an idiot anyways
[quote]Without ozzy u wouldn’t have the half the metal bands out there.[/quote]
That’s not true. Not to say he isn’t influential – He was, very much. Just because bands were influenced by him doesn’t mean they depended on his existence for their own existence.
So file sharing hurts recording artists? Not as much as the ultra greedy recording companies would have the public believe: This is an excerpt from cnn.com:
Court papers released Thursday in Britney Spears’ custody dispute with Kevin Federline show she spends lavishly on clothes and entertainment, and doesn’t save or invest any of her roughly $737,000 monthly income.
Spears’ monthly expenses include $49,267 in mortgage for two houses, $16,000 for clothes and $102,000 on entertainment, gifts and vacation, according to her financial declaration.
Although she’s often photographed eating fast food, Spears declares she spends about $4,758 per month dining out.
I think Ozzy’s just confused, and not just because of years of abuse or whatver has previously been posted. He unfortunately doesn’t wuite understand the industry as it is today and has probably had people in his ear with vested interest in stopping music from being shared. He sells enough merchandise and makes enough money off of Ozzfest (even with free tix), to just give his music away and doing so would help his bottom line. But either people are telling him different or he’s been doing things the old way for so long, he doesn’t realize that there is anything better.
Some people just can’t evolve their thinking with the times and it looks like he’s one of them.
I have a lot of respect for Ozzy, but the next time his limo passes a kid on the street wearing an Ozzy T-Shirt, he should stop and think that maybe that kid only likes him because he downloaded his music and he still made money off of him.
NONE OF YOU ARE METAL.
Fucking crybaby cunt!
Lol, my respect for him is gone, crying about him losing money? Are you kidding me? Rofl, no comment man, he shouldn’t have even said anything. Losing money. Hahahahahaha.
Some people in this world (low-middle class) cannot afford to be paying your fucking ridiculous rates for a single album every time they want one. $15-20 for an album, it collects.
What a douchebag.
Die .. OZZT … die !
I thought people started bands for the love of the music. Not to make money. No musician should expect to make money from making music. If they do then they’re not real musicians.
johnny doom you are a fucking idiot. i work in the buisness. am i expected to make music so fat retards like you can enjoy it and i have to find another way to make money so i can eat?
talent isnt free asshole. nobody owes you a god damn thing.
And nobody owes you a god damned thing … “Oink Sucked” !
We 4 sure wanna pay the artist yeah but not the fat retards behind some moneyeating machines. Clear ? OK !
Maybe the fact that england sucks up over half of their entertainers money in taxes is why he needs the money…
You all bitch about music not being any good…most of you younger fucks wouldn’t know good music if it knocked your ass down. Urban hip hop….total crap….bunch of no talent lame asses. And rap…..cut me a fucking break….talk about making money off of shit.
@comment 41 by oink sucked
And it’s fucking asshole comment like yours that piss me off. And it’s people like you who dont even deserve to “work in the business”.
@#41
You sound like some shitty band that only last 1 or 2 years and no-ones ever heard of.
@#40
Your bang on the dot there real music is from the heart and not the coin purse!
@#44
Go Gurl!
[quote comment="202577"]Maybe the fact that england sucks up over half of their entertainers money in taxes is why he needs the money…
You all bitch about music not being any good…most of you younger fucks wouldn’t know good music if it knocked your ass down. Urban hip hop….total crap….bunch of no talent lame asses. And rap…..cut me a fucking break….talk about making money off of shit.[/quote]
Osborn hasn’t paid taxes here for decades so what has that got to do with anything? He lives in LA LA land and unlike yanks UK citizens don’t pay UK taxes when living in another country.
Given that the highest tax rate in the UK is 40% and very few resident “rock stars” ever pay that (or any tax at all in the case of most) I think maybe you have no idea what you are on about.
What’s with all the Ozzy hate…?
The guy’s a legend; he’s an amazing recording artist; he’s had more hits than any of us dare count, both solo and in Black Sabbath; he started the most successful festival tour in history; he shoved a midget into the storage space of his tour bus.
He’s still recording good music. Black Rain was a quality album and had a big hit on it: I Don’t Wanna Stop. He’s always had an eye for talent. That’s why we all know about Randy Rhoades and Zack Wylde.
He made underground music really accessible again with Ozzfest, and whether or not you appreciate the music, you can appreciate the fact that he allowed a kid to go to a concert and see both Iron Maiden AND Black Sabbath in one day. I really don’t think any of you appreciate just how epic that day was to so many people.
Yes, he’s old. Yes, he’s fucked in the head. Yes, his wife pretty much runs his life. But why does any of that translate into hatred? Lots of the rock legends are old now…that’s why they’re legends…Slash is old; Iommi is old; Lemmy is old; Dickinson is old; Dio is old; Simmons is old; hell, even Jack Black is getting old. Shatner is old, but does that mean Boston Legal sucks?
This man pioneered an entire genre (not single handedly, but he played a MAJOR role, and even Iommi attests to that) and that’s not something you can just off-handedly claim doesn’t matter.
I don’t appreciate punk music, but I can respect the fact that Iggy Pop helped carve out an entirely new genre. Why is this sense of respect lost on a much larger legend like Ozzy? Because he likes to make money in the ways it was done in the 80’s and 90’s? Sorry, but that’s just the way he understands the business. Maybe trying to change his mind would be a little more productive than just writing off this marvel of music writing.
Zennalathas…
YOU FUCKING ROCK.
Ozzy is metal.
Black Rain is amazing album. Old school even.
I’ll say it from this point of view…
I’m in two bands, one of them we’re going in the ways of Dog Fashion Disco, The Locusts, Mod Flanders Conspiracy, Anthrax, yadda.. There’s a bunch of influences going on… The other being a Rock/Blues bands. And I’m an underground tattoo artist. Being and artist musically, and visually can get very expensive, and in todays age, if you don’t have some dumb hook about how mommy didn’t love me enough, you don’t get signed. So downloading for me is a godsend. I can’t afford to buy ALL the amazing music from hip hop, metal, rockabilly, celtic… it’s insane how much shit is out there. So far this year, I’ve bought two albums… Puscifer, and Polkadot Cadaver.. How many people have actually heard that shit… So fuck you who say that downloading is bad. People still make money… And god forbid the musical geniuses out there lose a few thousand bucks that they’ll just make up in a third of the merch they’ll sell on tour.
Thanks,
Noshi
I wouldn’t even download any new albums from this clown for free
He’s way past his expiration date
Ozzy sux, most metal sux.
Now instant karma, that’s another matter.
the over 2 million downloads @ rockbox shows he still has it!!
metal \m/
Ozzy you ruined hundreds of lives on your alleged career. From the women you screwed over to the people you introduced to drugs. To the children who comitted suicide listening to your music. You dance with the devil and sold your soul to him more then once. The music will be free. You are a pathethic old man.
So let me get this straight.. he is suffering terribly.. …
I seriously thought this was a joke when I started reading.
When you have everything you can desire and you have the nerve to say you are suffering, what a fucking piece of shit.
So if this really WAS hurting him, lets put this into perspective. He wouldn’t be able to afford another jet.. while we can barely afford rent.. wow, how selfish.
Fuck you Ozzy, drug addict piece of shit, fall in a hole and die.
lol thx
ozzy u crackhead lol just shutup
Ozzy is sure a legend…
His music and songwriting skills are better than any of 2days shit..Most of it aint even music its pants…the better songs of today are remakes of older hits, thats how bad it is today, gotta rewrite cos most cant sing a note.. They just shout crap and talk through songs, not real singig at all..
Ozzy Rules, his last album was loosely based on the war in Iraq, Global Warming and his love and absence from his family lives, take a minute and lissen. At least his songs actually mean something and most lines make sense, not like the crap out there now…
Yes like posted before, hes done the drugs – look around the younger fucks of society are all screwed-up with drugs of one kind or another, so what. Ozzy’s been screwed by the record producers and he only knows the ways of the past, hes not doing bad for an old guy, look at your fathers… could they perform like Ozzy at his age? No, I doubt it..
WELL DONE OZZY KEEP UP THE MUSIC… ROCKS
Reading half this shit makes me wanna smash all the little snobby spoiled fuks….
most of you punks need a bullet… ya should have gotten beat when you were younger… where’s your respect.
you obviously don’t have any…
this shows what the worlds coming to.
snot nosed kids that just want stuff for free from mommy and daddy.
try doing something creative instead of being lil’bitches
positive is way better than negative. but the world is full of negative.
all the little fuks with no respect, you need a bullet.
[quote comment="202052"]Here’s a hint Ozzy: Maybe it’s indeed the fact that you’ve been doing it for 40 years. You don’t appeal to most younger people, you sure as hell don’t appeal to me. I wouldn’t pay a dime for your music, let alone the 5 minutes it would take me to download it. What you create is worthless, so it only makes sense that you’re getting nothing for it.
Besides, maybe if you hadn’t snorted all your money up your nose you’d have a hefty sum left over to retire on. If all you’re in it now is for the money, just fuck off and die already.[/quote]
Your one sad mother fucker you are.
OMG, unbelievable rubbish by the younger idiots in here. Thank goodness there are some knowledgable comments about Ozzy and real facts about his life and music, to show up the ignorance of this generation.
Loved Ozzy’s music always. I’m a muso,I’ve never taken drugs or alchohol,always had a job,been in a successful marriage, brought up children successfully,I’m happy and secure,and respected in society by those who know me. Well how odd then, since I’ve been such a great fan at the same time for years.His music inspired me, not wrecked me.
And there are millions of Ozzy fans out there who can tell the same success story.
I’m off to see the Ozzy concert at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne this Saturday. And it will be worth every dollar.
ozzy rulz
ozzy rocks!
you motherfuckers!
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