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Vinnie Vincent has doubled down on one of the most controversial release strategies in recent rock history, defending his decision to sell CDs of his new single for as much as $300 — and warning fans that his upcoming album, Guitarmageddon, may never see the light of day if sales don’t meet his expectations.
The former Kiss guitarist recently began promoting Guitarmageddon with an unconventional rollout, offering physical CD copies of the lead single "Ride the Serpent" for $200. For U.S. buyers, the price climbs to $225 once shipping is added, while international fans face shipping costs of $100, pushing the total to nearly $300 for a single-song CD.
Despite backlash from fans, Vincent has shown no signs of backing down. Instead, he has gone on the offensive, comparing the single to luxury goods. Vincent described "Ride the Serpent" as "caviar or fine art," calling it a "nearly eight-minute, intense guitar powerdrive." And yeah sure, maybe it is that good, and of course artists deserve compensation – but $300?
In a series of posts responding to criticism (as captured by the folks at Guitar World), Vincent escalated the situation further, stating that he will only release Guitarmageddon if fans purchase 1,000 CDs of each single — and that none of the CDs will ship until all copies are sold.
"Unless I get compensated for my work, the album stays unheard," Vincent wrote. "The praise from a fan base is pointless unless I'm compensated FIRST."
Vincent went on to argue that traditional album releases are no longer financially viable and claimed his pricing strategy is a way to counter bootlegging and devaluation of music in the streaming era. "I am the manufacturer. I produce high end product. I set the price accordingly. It's that simple," he said. "I've created an elite product for elite taste."
In perhaps his boldest statement yet, Vincent compared Guitarmageddon to some of rock’s most revered albums. "I lived thru Meet the Beatles, Led Zeppelin II, Are You Experienced, Truth, Wheels of Fire, Pink Floyd etc," he wrote. "As for impact and perfection from the first song to last, Guitarmageddon is a classic. The number one contender."
Vincent acknowledged that those albums benefited from decades of legacy and cultural impact, but insisted his record rivals them in quality and ambition. Vincent also goes off the rails and takes some fairly shitty shots at people on food stamps, saying: "So for the smash and grab EBT card group of self entitled complainers bitching about price… fuck off. The fatigue is now exhaustion. They are the side effect of what the internet produced. Gimme gimme gimme."
Vincent also took aim at what he described as entitled fans and oversaturation in the modern guitar world, criticizing free access to music and an abundance of players he feels lack originality. "At this point there's an overload of guitar players," he wrote. "They generally sound the same, play the same… People are beginning to tune out guitar players because they're a penny a dozen."
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