I'm not speaking musically but their other outside sources of income. From watching a few episodes of Gene Simmons Family Jewels, and if the show is telling true facts I'd say Gene Simmons has a keen business.

And for the record, I'm not a KISS fan.

I think Mick has guarded the value of his brand better than Gene has guarded his.

Threadkiller strikes again!

Paul McCartney

gene simmons because he has a lot more money but made a lot less money from music and tours

But Simmons has cheapened his brand. And over time that's going to bite him in the rear. He deals in cheap trinkets, Such novelties have no staying power. Mick's brand is one of quality. His music accomplishments, both artistic and commercial, bury Simmons'. And we don't know for certain if Gene has more money than Mick. He might, but we don't know.

Tommy

Simmons of course. Jagger has a great product to sell, which is much easier than selling air like Simmons does.

Mathijs

Imho Simmons understood the American mentality where, if you like a band, you gotta have the band-approved paraphernalia : mug, comic book ("printed with ink mixed with Kiss's members blood!!"), car, condoms, etc etc...
Why Simmons should pass on this goldmine (of stupidity?)

I think the figures are speaking for themselves

Let Gene sell air for 10 more years after the Stones retire. Maybe he'll reach half of what Jagger have achieved financially.

Having a great product to sell is the cornerstone of good business, Mathijs. You don't sell a man one car, you sell him five over 30 years. Simmons' product is crap, and eventually people catch on.

Tommy

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Mathijs
Simmons of course. Jagger has a great product to sell, which is much easier than selling air like Simmons does.

Greetings from the Jersey Shore.

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Mathijs
Simmons of course. Jagger has a great product to sell, which is much easier than selling air like Simmons does.

Mathijs

Exactly!

Gene Simmons is also responsible for this:

[www.genesimmons.com]

I can't imagine any of the Stones being willing to allow (let alone actually invent) a kids-cartoon caricature of themselves to make money.

I think Mick and Keiths fortunes were stalled early on by management but once they gained control they made serious money. This learning curve helped pave the way for these younger bands NOT to make the same mistakes.

I'm not a big KISS fan, but I really like the midget KISS band in the Pepsi commercial.

I with there was a band of midget Stones impersonators.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-08-05 20:35 by Keefan.

Simmons is a cheap carnival clown...he isn't a better businessman simply because he is constantly selling.

He is a sales hack, not a businessman. There is a difference.

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treaclefingers
Simmons is a cheap carnival clown...he isn't a better businessman simply because he is constantly selling.

He is a sales hack, not a businessman. There is a difference.

Em, sorry to point this out...but if he is "constantly selling things" and presumably making a good profit, then he is certainly a good business man. Especially when you consider he co-owns the brand (ie its not a franchise). You can hate Kiss all you like, but their marketing prowess from the mid 70's to today is unparalleled. They also put on a hell of a show and still keep ticket prices around £40.00

Don't forget they slogged their asses off around the East coast and Mid West in the Mid 70's for a good three years before they made ANY money. Simmons was investing his savings from a previous job as a teacher to keep the band afloat.

Oh and for my sins...I love Kiss. Great Rock N Roll band



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-08-05 21:23 by letitloose.

Although it's totally subjective to what we, as fans of rock'n'roll music, are allowed to see, based on what I've seen, although Mick might go around the world and be on an island and on a boat and just whatever, Gene has a family - yet alone a wife - that loves him for who he is, a person, not for what he is, a member of KISS. Their TV show pretty much shows that - in a way. But it seems that his life says it much louder - he's a happy man wit HIS life. Not saying Mick isn't, just that it seems obvious Gene is.

So I'm going to go with Gene Simmons being the better business man OVERALL. Sure Mick is really good when it comes to the tours but that's only for X amount of time. It comes and then it's gone. The fact that the records are in stores and online are engough. Gene does it on a daily basis. He knows his legacy and deals with it, seemingly, on a daily basis. He doesn't ignore it or look at it as something to be "bothered with", as Mick so clearly states.

I think a better thread would be...

"Who's tongue is more famous? Mick Jagger's or Gene Simmons'?"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-08-05 23:30 by Keefan.

Gene Simmons is a whore. Mick Jagger is a businessman.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

Gene Simmons is a whore.

NO NO .... Richard is THE WHORE......!!!!!!!!!!





ROCKMAN

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Keefan
I think a better thread would be...

"Who's tongue is more famous? Mick Jagger's or Gene Simmons'?"

Mick's tongue is more famous (it's been shown for more time) eventhough Gene's is bigger.

Maybe Mick will allow KISS to open for The Stones on the next tour.....if it makes good business sense of course.

I remember a Gene Simmons interview from a couple of years back where he was promoting the "KISS Credit Card" -- he mentioned they already had so many million credit card "swipes" and it was a huge success. I'm not a KISS fan at all, but Simmons is definitely quite the businessman.

The interviewer asked what his mom thought of him and his career all these years. His response: "She likes her houses."

Gene Simmons would have to get the nod. His band is utter crap, and yet he finds a way to scam gabbazillions out of dull-normal red state America. I can think of about three Kiss songs that would even rate as mediocre (Black Diamond, Rock 'n' Roll All Night, and there must be one other).

Spit blood, wave tongue, eat fire. Lather, rinse, repeat. Being able to churn that much money out of such a talentless band takes a business acumen beyond what any school can teach.

At least Jagger's revenues are based on actual talent.

I say it's Mick who is the better businessman, because he does more with less. From what I have read, and gather from watching the Family Jewels show, Gene seems to be constantly coming up with some new scheme to make money, but most do not seem to last.

I'm not saying he isn't a smart businessman, just that it seems to be a numbers game with him. He's tries every ridiculous idea he comes up with, usually involving just slapping Kiss's name, or his, on some tsotchke in order to get it to sell.

But little of it seems to last for long. That "My Dad's A Rockstar" show mentioned previously, is from 7 years ago, and only ran for two seasons. In Canada. It's not even listed on the Teletoon website anymore. On his website, Gene talked about having tours and things for kids based around the show. Did that ever happen?

His magazine, Tongue, only ran for 5 issues. And I doubt if he sold very many of those Kiss Kaskets either.

I don't doubt that Gene made money on all those deals, I just don't think he made a lot off them individually. Michael Jordan is one of the NBA's top all-time scorers, but he also consistently had one of the highest percentages of missed shots while he was playing, because he shot constantly, more than most players. As a result he made a lot, but he missed a lot too. I think it's the same thing with Gene. He makes a little off a lot. Compared to Gene, I think Mick makes a lot off a little.

Mick Jagger is choosier about his projects, and as a result, I think he is probably more successful with fewer endeavors, and has less failures. To me, that makes him the better, smarter businessman, regardless of which one of them makes the most money.