Accept’s leader talks about the evolution of the music business

The German Heavy Metal band Accept was formed in Solingen, West Germany in 1976 and after more than four decades continues to tour around the world and record new material. The band’s only remaining original member and leader, the guitarist Wolf Hoffman talked in an interview with Duke TV (Transcribed by Blabbermouth) about how the music business evolved over the years.

He reflected on how everything was based on albums sales decades ago and now the bands need to the merchandising and concert tickets sales to survive.

Accept’s leader talks about the evolution of the music business

“In the ’80s, when we started, it was all about the superstar. You’d never be seen, and people expected you to be invisible and unapproachable. People were pretending to be larger than life.”

“There was a big mystique about superstars. And nowadays it’s more, like, ‘Hey, we’re all in this together.’ And social media helped, of course, with that a lot. People are much closer, the audience is much closer to the band, and we are feeling much closer to the audience, and I think it’s just a sign of the times.”

“But at the same time, yeah, the business of music has changed so much. It used to be all about album sales, and record sales was the only thing that mattered. And now it’s ticket sales and merchandising and meet-and-greets, and it’s just constantly shifting. And we’re trying to shift with the times,” the Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffman said.

Accept

The band’s current line-up has Wolf Hoffman (Guitar), Mark Tornillo (Vocals), Uwe Lulis (Guitar), Christopher Williams (Drums), Martin Motnik (Bass) and Philip Shouse (Guitar).

In more than four decades the band released 16 studio albums and five live albums. Their albums “Blood Of The Nations” (2010), “Stalingrad” (2012), “Blind Rage” (2014), “The Rise of Chaos” (2017) and “Too Mean To Die” (2021) with the singer Mark Tornillo were praised by the fans and critics as a ressurection of the band.