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Buckcherry’s Josh Todd says bands today have 5 seconds to grab a listener’s attention: “It’s insane”
“People are just flipping through stuff, and they just only watch what they see.”
Image: Scott Legato / Getty Images
Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd has spoken about the growing struggle to attract the attention of modern day listeners on streaming platforms.
Speaking to Classic Album Review, the singer was asked for his thoughts on Kiss bassist Gene Simmons’ infamous claim that “rock is dead”, to which he replies [via Blabbermouth]: “I understand what he means by that as far as the bigness of what rock used to be, and I think that’s what he means.”
“But [rock is] alive and kicking. There’s tons of rock bands putting out records and. But I understand what he means.”
“I think it’s just a much different platform for everybody,” Todd explains, adding that the crux of the problem lies in how “so spread out” information is right now.
“There’s no controlled marketplace. There’s no radio-driven stuff anymore. It’s just everywhere. And so it’s very hard for people to focus on you. So, yeah, what he’s saying is completely correct.”
The musician also highlights the decreasing attention span of listeners over the years, saying: “Let me just tell you something. I don’t know if it was [Buckcherry’s] Hellbound or Warpaint [albums]. At Warpaint, we got sat down and said, ‘Okay, you’ve got 20 seconds to get somebody’s attention, and then that’s it.’ I’m, like, ‘What? 20 seconds?’ ‘Yeah.’ Guess what it is now. It’s like five seconds. And so that’s crazy.”
“People are just flipping through stuff, and they just only watch what they see. So many people don’t even know you put a record out. It’s insane.”
He continues: “Everything’s on streaming. In the States, there’s no rock radio anymore. It doesn’t mean anything. And so it’s just a whole different thing. So it’s all about promoting your stuff online, for sure, and streaming and all that, but it doesn’t mean what it used to mean. And I think that’s what he means.”