Former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent has pushed back against fan criticism over the pricing of his upcoming music release, addressing the backlash in a fiery statement posted on Facebook.
His response followed a fan comment questioning the high cost of his new single, Ride the Serpent, and suggesting that the price could prevent listeners from enjoying the music amid ongoing economic challenges.
“First of all, consider the analogy to caviar or fine art. Not everyone can afford it. That simple,” Vincent said. “Second, I resent your ‘personal life’s needs … prices alleviate my burdens’ insult. Who the fuck are you to assume such a theory because you can’t afford or don’t want to pay or don’t agree with my price?”
Vincent continued by rejecting the idea that his music should follow traditional or industry-standard pricing models.
“Fair market price? Lol. That was yesteryear. Welcome to the new agenda,” he continued. “Artists can and will set their own standards and rules for the purchase price of their art, when they’ve had their fill of being ripped off. If you don’t agree with the price, don’t buy it. It’s that easy.”
The guitarist also took aim at what he described as entitled attitudes among some fans in today’s music economy.
“Independent artists now have to navigate a Mad Max wasteland of survival and are the directed victims of massive ripoffs, reduced to beg and pander for likes and subscribes from self-entitled brats who want their work for free or for next to nothing,” Vincent said. “Yet these are the same whiners who have no problem paying someone $500 for a brick from a house he demolished or $1,000 for a sweaty pair of used socks. But you bitches cry and whine like fucking babies when VV sells something at a price you don’t like. Grow the fuck up! My price protects me from people like ‘you’ who will buy cheap from the theft of bootleggers.”
The comments come amid Vincent’s announcement of “Judgment Day Guitarmageddon,” a release series consisting of limited-edition collector singles, with just 1,000 copies pressed per song. The pricing controversy has become closely tied to that announcement.
Vincent’s confrontational stance reflects his long and often strained relationship with the music industry, as well as his turbulent history with KISS, the band that brought him mainstream recognition. Ultimate Classic Rock reported that Vincent plans to sell “Ride the Serpent” for $225 per single, positioning the release as an ultra-limited collector’s item. Of the 1,000 copies per song, 500 are allocated for the U.S. market and 500 for international buyers.
Vincent’s tenure with KISS was short but significant. Before Bruce Kulick joined the band in 1984, KISS’s lead guitarist role had seen frequent turnover following the departure of founding member Ace Frehley. Vincent lasted less than two years in the position, yet he contributed to some of the band’s most commercially successful material of the early 1980s.
His current approach to releasing music appears shaped by decades of frustration with traditional industry economics. By bypassing conventional distribution channels and assigning premium prices to highly limited physical releases, Vincent is asserting greater control over his work. The strategy mirrors a broader trend among veteran artists navigating an era defined by streaming, piracy, and diminished revenue from recorded music.
