Former KISS Members Defend High Prices For New Releases

KISS’ Gene Simmons performing live(Credit: Andrew Briscoe)

KISS

While rising costs have affected everything, from housing prices to the cost of recorded music, two former members of KISS have been forced to issue statements regarding their own highly-priced recent releases.

Earlier this month, Vinnie Vincent (who replaced founding guitarist Ace Frehley and performed with the band from 1982 until 1984) took to Facebook to share a post regarding an upcoming single he would be releasing.

Per Stereogum, the post detailed that the limited edition CD single would be “a plain disc plain sleeve very limited collection piece, handwritten signed titled and numbered in my handwriting to each person.”

Limited to 1,000 copies worldwide (split evenly between the US and the rest of the world), the singles would be priced at $225 USD each domestically, and $300 USD for international customers, with shipping only occurring once all 1,000 copies were purchased.

“I understand the bitching, the moaning, the whining about price, but you must also understand that my situation is as such that my music is so desired that it will be targeted and taken from me immediately, which I cannot/will not allow,” Vincent wrote.

“I wish it was not this way, but I’m honored that it is,” he added. “It’s a double-edged sword for me, but I sincerely hope that when you think it through you will understand the dilemma I face.”

The single has since gone up for order, though Vincent has also shared a lengthy tirade in response to those who have criticised the rather inaccessible price. “Consider the analogy to caviar or fine art,” he explained. “Not everyone can afford it.”

“My price protects me from people like ‘you’ who will buy cheap from the theft of bootleggers who steal from me,” he added. “If you don’t like what I do, what I look like, what I say, what I sell, or anything and or everything about me, don’t come here. If you like what I do, then support the artist.

“You bitch because it’s one song??????. This one song is worth more than most entire albums.”

The song is the first taste of a forthcoming album titled Guitarmageddon, though no release date (or price) has been announced for the record just yet.

Meanwhile, founding drummer Peter Criss (who performed with the band from 1973 until 1990, and sporadically again until 2004) has also come under fire for the exorbitant price for the digital download of his own latest album.

Released this year, the self-titled release is Criss’ first since 2007’s One For All, and as per usual, was made available in a number of different formats over on his Bandcamp page.

Though it’s since been taken down, the record was listed for $32.98 USD for vinyl copies and $14.98 for CD editions, while a digital version was upped to a towering $1,000.

Notably, the record is also absent from streaming services, and this may tie into the reason for the lofty price, which was explained away on the very Bandcamp page. “Digital purchases are discouraged,” it said. “That’s why the high price.”

It’s not the first time that artists have offered such an exorbitant price barrier. In fact, if you wanted to grab a download copy of short-lived Melbourne act Loser Denial’s 2012 demo, you’d need to shell out the same amount of money as Criss’ album was selling for. (Though you can actually download Loser Denial’s individual tracks for free, the convenience of grabbing all four tracks at once is where the $1,000 price comes into it.)

However, Criss has since taken to his website to offer an explanation as to the high price, revealing it was not a choice he had made personally.

“Bandcamp had become an issue and I had requested Flatiron Recordings to disable the account associated with my records before the release day of my New record on December 19, 2025,” Criss wrote.

“I am not in control of the Bandcamp account. Flatiron Recordings is. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and for the misinformation and implication that I am charging $1,000 for a download of my New record – I am Not. Please contact Flatiron Recordings with any purchase questions.”