STAIND GUITARIST TALKS DOWNLOADS AND SAYS HE WOULD HAVE DONE IT

Staind’s “Right Here” has become one of the most downloaded tracks of the year, and the good news is that the band and the industry have both figured out a w…

Staind’s “Right Here” has become one of the most downloaded tracks of the year, and the good news is that the band and the industry have both figured out a way that the band can still get paid for what they do.

While sales themselves may have been hurt, the band by no means blames their fans or the consumer. Guitairst Mike Mushok said that if the technology was available he might have been one of those who partook in free downloads while the industry sorted itself out with digital delivery.

“I think it hurts everybody, but on the flipside if I was a kid and it was as simple as going to my computer to get something I’ve never heard of and doesn’t cost me anything and my allowance and the money I got I could spend on something else, I would have done it too. I can’t blame anybody for doing it. I’m sure I would have been a part of it. It was different when I was a kid. I used to save my lunch money and allowance and on Friday night’s I’d go out to the mall with my friends and I’d buy the CD that I heard about of some new band that I’d heard about and I would do that every week and that’s where I would spend it. But if it was as simple enough as me going to my computer and getting it, instant gratification. It’s right there.”

Mushok says that the 99 cents download program is something that he believes in now and that he would have bought into as a kid.

“So I mean, I think they’re trying to remedy it with the 99 cent downloads. I think that’s where you get It’s a step in the right direction, you know?”

Staind will embark on a tour of North America starting with a leg in Canada October 29. They’ll return stateside November 8 in Seattle.