Nightwish...

[Ben_Jamin]

I am also not disregarding his complaints about financials and can understand the sentiment of musicians that they should get a larger cut from the revenue. But in Europe Nightwish fills arena's, the ones where some of the biggest popstars play. Granted, 2020 sucked and the tour is postponed and all, but they sold about 34000 tickets in The Netherlands alone, for a single weekend. And their online numbers are overall great. Point being that the serious financial struggle of so many musicians should not really apply to them.

That said, Marco's last tour was his solo one in early 2020, so perhaps he is also speaking from his experience as a smaller solo artist

Yup, he sees this in his solo albums. And notices how bad these streaming services are. Nightwish sells, arenas yes, but how much of that money do they actually get. That's why this industry is a machine and a messed up one at that. And why a lot of musicians will tell young artists, If you are really passionate and dedicated, then yeah go for it, but it's not for everybody because the stress is immense, and the demand is intense where you can't sleep or are constantly on the move, touring, and also recording a music video, a photo shoot, interviews, all while on tour...

[v_clortho]

Ok I've never really heard much Nightwish. I want to remedy that. What should I get? What's the best to start with?

[Adami]

Ok I've never really heard much Nightwish. I want to remedy that. What should I get? What's the best to start with?

Century Child, Imaginarium, Human II Nature.

That's one each for the three vocalists. If you have a preference for one, you can buy the other(s) with that singer.

Also their live albums ain't bad, even if I find Tarja to be pretty meh live.

[Zoom E]

This is hugely disappointing. Marco's voice is one of my favourite elements of Nightwish. I really enjoy his solo album Pyre of the Black Heart too.

Totally understand the grind of being in a band, especially if the financial reward is not worth it. I wouldn't want to be constantly touring and away from home.

I hope he comes back and at lease does some more solo work.

[nattmorker]

Simen Hestnęs aka ICS Vorex

My first thought. 

Not to derail the thread but that would be awesome! Back to the subject, sad news! I was hoping to catch them in the next tour (whenever that happens).

[Ben_Jamin]

You know what I just thought about. What if not touring is affecting why musicians even made music in the first place. What if, they loved seeing peoples faces, they loved seeing the crowd be up against each other all sweaty and stuff hearing their music, what if seeing all this and playing the music live, gave them a purpose in their own lives. And since there is no more touring, what is the purpose of making music, if you can't see these things anymore. It's really sad to think about, but I am sure there are many artists whom are thinking of doing the same exact thing Marco pondered and decided to do.

[ProfessorPeart]

Jason Newsted is free.

[ariich]

Really sad news, but I completely respect his decision if he's not feeling it any more and is burned out by the machine of being in such a big band. He'll be hard to replace for sure. In terms of live performances, now that they have Floor with her incredibly powerful and versatile voice, I've no doubt she could take on many of his parts if they wanted to play older songs where his vocals were prominent.

A bit of an aside, but thile he's clearly not wrong about the music industry in general, as is always the case I find it frustrating when people start directing their ire at streaming services as though anything has changed in that regard. Pink Floyd were writing songs about this in the 70s (like Welcome to the Machine), it's nothing new.

On streaming specifically, Nightwish got 113 million streams on Spotify alone in 2019 - I wouldn't be surprised if it was substantially higher in 2020 considering 1. people streaming from home more due to the pandemic and 2. Nightwish released a new album. But even at that 2019 level it equates to a payout of around $360,000, and again that is just from Spotify streaming. They also make money from other streaming services, album sales, merch sales, and obviously in the normal course of things live performances as well (though not in 2020). And of course, they will continue to make money from streaming services year after year even if they release no more music.

Again this isn't to dismiss his complaints about the music industry (and capitalism in general possibly), it just bugs me when there's an implication that streaming services are the problem and everything was fine before.

See, that is where Marco explained, These streaming Services take their cuts, the Label gets a cut, then their managers, and then the band. So exactly, how much do the members actually get, and even at that, the members could be getting more than the others, like here it'd be Tuomas whom gets the most percentage of the funds. Remember also, The business side is why Tarja was fired from Nightwish.

There's reasons why those bands are talking smack about streaming services, and why Neal Morse set up his own streaming service with Waterfall.

But those things apply to everything in the music industry, and always have. With album sales, the label and managers still get their cut, so do the distributors, so do the retailers. He also recognises it's the same to an extent with touring where the promoters get their cut. It just seems he's railing against capitalism in the music industry in general, which is fine if that's not something he wants to be part of any more, but it still bugs me that it gets directed at streaming services when it's no different to how it's always been.

And I'm not buying the suggestion that Nightwish's members don't make solid money, 2020 notwithstanding due to the inability to tour.

[Architeuthis]

Jason Newsted is free.

I was gonna jokingly say that but I digressed. Then you came along and blurted it right out!
Way to go man! 

[ProfessorPeart]

Jason Newsted is free.

I was gonna jokingly say that but I digressed. Then you came along and blurted it right out!
Way to go man! 

Great minds think alike!

I started thinking about bassists that did vocals. Jason's were key to Metallica's live sound in his day. Not sure how he would sound belting out Wish I Had An Angel, though.

[MirrorMask]

I can totally see someone who I'll always associate with the Creeping Death background vocals "Die! die! die! MOTHERFUCKER die!" belt out Wish I Had an Angel even better and angrier than Marko 

[Grappler]

And I'm not buying the suggestion that Nightwish's members don't make solid money, 2020 notwithstanding due to the inability to tour.

The question really is, how much of a paycut have they taken because of the introduction of streaming music?  If Marco is seeing his portion of income reduced because they don't sell as many albums compared to streaming revenue, then that is a legitimate reason. 

As successful as the band is, nobody likes taking a paycut and having to work harder to make up for it. 

I can totally see someone who I'll always associate with the Creeping Death background vocals "Die! die! die! MOTHERFUCKER die!" belt out Wish I Had an Angel even better and angrier than Marko 

Jason could handle songs like those, but he doesn't have the nuance and softness in his voice for songs like The Islander.  Marco has a lot more to him than just handling the aggressive vocals when needed. 

That being said, seeing Jason in the band would be awesome, and some of those softer elements would probably get thrown to Troy. 

[Evermind]

I can totally see someone who I'll always associate with the Creeping Death background vocals "Die! die! die! MOTHERFUCKER die!" belt out Wish I Had an Angel even better and angrier than Marko 

DIE DIE BEAUTIFUL
DIE DIE DIE DIE

[cramx3]

I don't watch Herman Li's twitch streams regularly, but I subscribe on youtube because the cuts he uploads are usually pretty fun or interesting...

he uploaded this video talking about Marco leaving Nightwish which is very interesting to hear from someone in the business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OapkGDz9Bho

[Ben_Jamin]

I don't watch Herman Li's twitch streams regularly, but I subscribe on youtube because the cuts he uploads are usually pretty fun or interesting...

he uploaded this video talking about Marco leaving Nightwish which is very interesting to hear from someone in the business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OapkGDz9Bho

There you go...

[ariich]

And I'm not buying the suggestion that Nightwish's members don't make solid money, 2020 notwithstanding due to the inability to tour.

The question really is, how much of a paycut have they taken because of the introduction of streaming music?  If Marco is seeing his portion of income reduced because they don't sell as many albums compared to streaming revenue, then that is a legitimate reason. 

As successful as the band is, nobody likes taking a paycut and having to work harder to make up for it. 

Why do you think there's been a paycut? Artists are making more in total than they ever have, and artists share of total revenue has been rising steadily since around 1999 (that doesn't mean they're getting a fair share, but the share they're getting is higher than it's been since around the 70s/80s).

[cramx3]

AN EVENING WITH NIGHTWISH IN A VIRTUAL WORLD RESCHEDULED FOR MAY New VIP packages and 1 day tickets on sale soon

The interactive ”An Evening with Nightwish In a Virtual World” concert experiences that will kick off the ”Human. :II: Nature.” World Tour have been rescheduled from March to May due to changes in the band’s touring schedule. The new dates are Friday, May 28 and Saturday, May 29, 2021.

Tickets purchased for the original dates are automatically valid for the new dates, or can be returned by March 12, 2021. More details further below.

2 day tickets will be on sale for the current price until February 14, 2021, 22:59 CET. After this the price will go up.

VIP packages will go on sale at the same time. The VIP package includes a virtual session with the yet unrevealed bass player of Nightwish’s ”Human. :II: Nature.” tour, among other perks. The identity of the bass player will be revealed on the live virtual session included in the VIP package on Friday, May 28, 2021.

EVENT INFO: Nightwish will perform in a tavern called ”The Islanders Arms” built in a virtual world for two nights in May. On both nights, the fans will experience an unforgettable 1.5-hour performance, hearing songs live off the latest album, ”Human. :II: Nature.” for the first time ever. These two nights will have their own, slightly different setlists.

Fri, May 28, 2021, Europe: 8pm CET / 7pm GMT, duration approx. 90min

Sat, May 29, 2021, North and South America: 8pm ET (UTC-5) / 5pm PT (UTC -8) / 10pm BRT (UTC-3) / 7pm CST (UTC -6), duration approx. 90min

Virtual VIP sessions with the bass player will be held on both dates before the show (schedule to be confirmed later).

The live events to be experienced at: www.burst.fi A recording of the concert will be available for 48 hours after the event for all the ticket holders.

More details and tickets at: www.nightwish.com.

Damn, I thought the virtual concert might have been part of Marco's commitments he would still do. 

[Architeuthis]

That's such a bummer about Marco. He's irreplaceable,  you have to BE Marco to pull off Marco. I'm sure they can find a bass player to play the songs just fine, but Marco has this monster stage presence that defines a big part of Nightwish. His voice is unmistakable too..

[Ben_Jamin]

That's such a bummer about Marco. He's irreplaceable,  you have to BE Marco to pull off Marco. I'm sure they can find a bass player to play the songs just fine, but Marco has this monster stage presence that defines a big part of Nightwish. His voice is unmistakable too..

Yup, behind Tarja, Marco was the next defining member of the band. Not only his voice, but in his bass tone and playing. He really upped that on Imaginarium.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Guess there's some rumors out there that Jarkko Ahola  might replace Marco.  Anyone heard these rumors?  Guys got a hell of a voice!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqBSDB5oHug&feature=youtu.be

[ErHaO]

Guess there's some rumors out there that Jarkko Ahola  might replace Marko.  Anyone heard these rumors?  Guys got a hell of a voice!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqBSDB5oHug&feature=youtu.be

Based on that, I would be down with that. Nobody sounds like Marco, and Marco was also really versatile.

But good vocals are good vocals, and I hope they will get a good vocalist in his place. Google teaches me he is a bassplayer and composer as well, so he does have the credentials.

[MirrorMask]

Fine by me! 

[CrimsonSunrise]

I must be an eternal optimist.  I ponied up for a concert ticket in LA.  Here's to wishes coming true!

[Zydar]

Here's to wishes coming true!

One could say you're a...




...Wishmaster!

[ErHaO]

I must be an eternal optimist.  I ponied up for a concert ticket in LA.  Here's to wishes coming true!

The date for the Dutch show has been changed twice, but now at the end of 2021 I have a decent amount of hope. But since we are talking about 17000 people event, I am still a little bit skeptical, opposed to smaller scale shows.

[CrimsonSunrise]

I must be an eternal optimist.  I ponied up for a concert ticket in LA.  Here's to wishes coming true!

The date for the Dutch show has been changed twice, but now at the end of 2021 I have a decent amount of hope. But since we are talking about 17000 people event, I am still a little bit skeptical, opposed to smaller scale shows.

We shall see how the vaccinations play out, and how local governments respond and legislate.  I'm perfectly OK with them saying you have to be vaccinated to attend a large event. (Just my opinion and I don't disregard the opposite).

Here's to wishes coming true!

One could say you're a...




...Wishmaster!

[cramx3]

I'm hopeful for that small fall NA leg, but while they don't play the huge venues in the US as they do in Europe, just the travel restrictions alone could still be an issue.  We will see, I still have my tickets and will hold if they have to reschedule, but it will suck if this tour never happens.

[MirrorMask]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo_Wk9JffKg

Snowy winter medley from Italy! (by a duo that does amazing and funny stuff, check their channel)

[gazinwales]

Marco and a couple of friends 
https://youtu.be/j5X03tHmKZg

[MirrorMask]

Marco and a couple of friends 
https://youtu.be/j5X03tHmKZg

Today I learnt I was placing the accent on Marco's surname wrong. I was pronouncing Hie-TA-la, not HIE-ta-la.

[gazinwales]

Now if NW want to find a similar voice to Marco then this is their man...
https://youtu.be/Gw_w_T6kzHs

[gazinwales]

Apparently the new NW bass player does not sing...

[Zook]

Floor can easily do all the vocals.

[gazinwales]

She can with all the pre-recorded backing vox, but she sure can't sing Marco's parts.

[ErHaO]

Honestly that would be a big live downgrade for me. Not that Floor can't carry songs on her own, far from it (obviously). But the variety of vocalists adds a lot to me.

Perhaps they can go the Kamelot way, where all concerts/tours feature a guest/guests.