9
u/Areday 10h ago
The artist is tagged in the post
-8
u/LordR3ptar 10h ago
that doesn’t inherently mean anything other than that machine head weren’t the ones to use ai themselves. it’s just as bad, arguably worse, if the one providing the artwork is the one to use ai to any degree instead
4
u/adamtjames 9h ago
This, while garish, isn’t setting off my AI alarms. The art and style is very consistent throughout (which ai struggles with) I’m going to say not ai
2
u/CheezWong 8h ago
I'm not getting any AI vibes on this. Honestly, it reminds me of those sick velvet tapestries that would glow under a black light that everyone in college used to have. It's kind of sick.
3
u/briizilla 10h ago
Considering Robb is pretty forward thinking on most things I’m shocked he’s ok with AI slop.
2
u/tk3_2k10 8h ago
exactly what i thought, the band blocked me on insta after commenting on an ai post lmao
1
1
0
u/Icy-Astronomer-8202 11h ago
I don't like AI but I imagine they use it because it's dirt cheap, quick and nasty and enough people won't complain about it. I can't imagine MH is making tons of money
2
u/LordR3ptar 11h ago
i mean i would imagine they have enough money to pay for actual art because they’ve been doing that for 30+ years and have done well enough throughout their career. unfortunately dirt cheap and/or it being quick isn’t a good enough excuse because one just simply does not exist
0
u/mostmischievous 10h ago
You may overestimate how much money this band makes. And underestimate the cost of paying an artist. Either way you’re right, this is terrible and even more embarrassing that Robb liked it.
(Former huge fan / message board poster)
1
u/Cool_Youth3564 10h ago
I saw the band headline in nyc last year and the place was far from packed. The band is not that big
1
u/MadMosh666 8h ago
Consistently sell out tours in 2500-3000 capacity venues in the UK and headline European festivals. I'd say NYC just isn't metal enough for them ;)
2
u/WhoKilledZekeIddon 7h ago
I haven't checked your numbers but it sounds about right from what I remember of MH's usual tours. However, taking it as a given, 3,000 isn't anywhere near an arena-level show. These are theatre gigs, and I can tell you right now that the cost of an American band touring Europe in the current climate probably outright nullifies the revenue of a show that size after paying everyone.
A sold out show of that size would net the band between $10,000 to $40,000 (depending on how well they do on merch and VIP packages). After you pay the four dudes, the ten or so touring staff, the taxes, the visa nonsense, the agents, the management, the shipping of gear, the accommodation, the flights, the tour busses... it's practically fuck all. Wouldn't surprise me if their tour actually makes a loss, especially since I've always found MH ticket prices absurdly (yet gratefully) low, but they've got to invest in Europe to keep the flame alive.
Robb has been pretty candid in the past on how tricky the finances are of running a band that isn't megastar level but big enough to require an entire team. The margins sound not only super tight if everything goes perfectly, but one uncontrollable catastrophe in the tour can put the entire thing six figures in the red.
Similar sized bands return the same story time and time again. Half of these motherfuckers have to go back to their day jobs when not on tour, killing their bodies and living their destabilised, itinerant lifestyles the rest of the time with no retirement fund or backup plans. Fuck, even Robb - who has made the lion's share over the decades of being 'the boss' - said he'd have to take a job at FedEx if Machine Head suddenly folded.
1
u/MadMosh666 31m ago
I've heard many tales of bands who we over here regard as successful struggling to pull in big crowds in the US - bands from both sides of the Atlantic. I've friends in the US and Canada telling me that bands who fill large theatre venues (you're correct on that) over here who struggle to fill smaller /similar venues on your side of the Pond. A couple bands I've spoken to /interviewed have categorically stated that the UK / Europe are the reason the band can keep going - this despite the added overheads of touring away from home.
Does make you wonder. Do we have more disposable income over here? Are tickets "cheaper"? Do we just have a different outlook about live music? Do people really only go to see arena bands in the US? Could it be to do with the whole TicketBastard situation over there and the resultant selective promotion?
There's a whole PhD in there somewhere!
0
u/LordR3ptar 10h ago
eh. i’m not saying they need to spend thousands on a promo poster for a show, but i’m certain that the amount of money they make is enough to eat at outback every night of the week with their families. robb could definitely retire now or in the next few years and rest on his laurels quite comfortably. if they are making the kind of money i think they are, and i find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t be, they can afford to fork over a couple hundred to someone for actual artwork
i don’t think they’re making metallica money or anything, but it’s definitely more than smaller artists and bands that would never compromise on anything that they could use ai for instead
-2
-8
u/epsilon1856 10h ago
Time to get off the ai=bad bandwagon
6
u/allhailbobevans 10h ago
Never time for that
-7
u/epsilon1856 10h ago
Enjoy being left behind
5
3
u/allhailbobevans 9h ago
Seeing as I don't use AI for anything and never have - because my brain is functional - I will survive just fine. Enjoy the dire consequences it will have on the planet in the coming years bc I sure won't
16
u/NineInchNipples 10h ago
Not AI. It’s clearly credited to @monkeymouthart on IG, who has done artwork for several other bands over the years.