The KISS inspired podcast, Three Sides Of The Coin, welcomed former KISS publicist Carol Rossto the show to discuss her time working for the band. She tells stories of how she was responsible for iconic KISS moments like putting their blood in the red ink for their first comic book and the Empire State Building photo shoot.

Hosts Michael Brandvold and Tommy Sommers chat with her about the band’s marketing the band and how difficult it was to sell them to publications like Rolling Stone Magazine.

 

 

During the interview, Carol talks about marketing bands today compared to the pre-internet era:

“Everything is social media now, basically” she said.

“The music business is so different today. It used to be a community and record companies would sign a band and if the band didn’t have a hit single or hit album the first time around they gave them another opportunity. They would invest in the band if they believed in the band. Today, that’s unheard of; nobody will give you anything. Ultimately today, the young artists have to do everything themselves. They have to be their own record company, they have to do their promotion, they have to do everything themselves. There is not really a place to go anymore. It’s an absolutely different world”, she continued.

“For what I do, I have to deal with social media. That’s where you have the concentration. Yeah, there’s magazines like Rolling Stone and there are lots of different magazines and you have to deal with all of that as well. But, really, getting their music out and making sure that it’s on the internet in all of the different outlets and it’s much harder today to break an artist than it was years ago.”

Carol also goes on to say that since she has been told by every record company that they are not signing anybody, the artist has to do everything by themselves and she doesn’t know what would happen with KISS if they were coming out today because, “it’s a very strange marketplace now.”

This episode is a great journey through the mind of one of the geniuses who helped turn KISS into the biggest band in the world. It is a great listen for not only KISS fans, but a great marketing lesson for any up and coming band. You get to hear how the big boys do it.

To listen to this show on Spreaker, head to this location.