Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen says the band likely won’t record a new album in the future and will instead concentrate on a “song or two at a time” going forward.
He points to the current state of the music industry and streaming services as the reason and tells The Rockpit: “I don’t know if it makes sense to do an entire CD any more in this day and age.”
Hansen continues: “The one story that I constantly tell, is that we took a year in 2009 to create Can’t Slow Down and we were on the road in America and Europe. In all our ‘off’ time we were writing and recording in New York and LA.
“Mick Jones was coming out to LA and it was incredibly exhausting – it was a lot of hard work, took up any empty time that we had and our energy, and it took huge amounts of money to complete that record.
“And, the day that it was released, people were trading it for free on the internet!”
“That’s really disappointing when you know how much time and effort you put in to something. I don’t think that model really works any more. I think it’s better to do a song or two at a time."
He adds: "In fact, we did Flame Still Burns and we’ve done certain things and added them to pieces of our releases lately, but I think it’s going to be more a song or two at a time from now on.”
Hansen, however, hasn’t fully ruled out the possibility of recording a full album at some point, but cautions: “From having had that experience, I think people who aren’t musicians or trying to make a living as an artist will understand that it’s just become the norm now – you don’t pay for anything you just get it for free.
“Even if you subscribe to a music service, the amount of cash that goes to the artist for a download or a stream is absolutely inconsequential. It means absolutely nothing to anybody.
“I’ll give you an example. I had a large piece of a song and I got a statement for my royalties. It streamed 42,000 times, and I got 42c! That’s indicative of the times.”
Last week it was revealed that the current Foreigner lineup will reunite with Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills for a one-off show at The Sturgis Buffalo Chip on August 4.
