An RC 2-part Metal Assessment - please contribute

[JayKeeley]

Two questions:

1. FOR THE MOST PART, which do you think is true?

A. The population of metal fans is chronologically accumulative. The majority of fans are in it for life. It is likely that there are more die-hard metal fans today than ever before.

B. The turnover rate ('old school vs. newcomer') is so high that the overall population remains consistently stagnant. There are as many metal fans today as ever, although all just as 'temporary' as before in order for the turnover rate to remain consistent.

C. Metal fans are non-accumulative. Most fans leave after a short while (within 3-5 years max), never to look back -- it was a juvenille phase they grew out of -- nothing more, nothing less. The overall listening population is slowly diminishing, and this can be assessed by the existing age group median.


2. Hypothetically, if the entire listening audience eventually vanished, how many metal musicians around the globe would continue to make metal music? (Listening audience does NOT include other fellow musicians).

A. 0-9%
B. 10-49%
C. 50-100%


If not so 'black & white', briefly explain your answers.

 

[speed]

Question 1:

Id say B, but your answers are sort of like the LSAT, each one could be correct. So, I will explain, I have noticed alot more kids listening to like Slipknot etc, but only a small percentage will cross the boundary into the underground with the rest of us. The rest will stop listening to metal once they hit college or get out of college, or get peer pressured to listen to something else. Now on the underground, very very few fans ever leave. Their tastes may run towards different kinds of metal, but they never leave underground metal.

Question 2:

I'd say B. Every artist wants to be heard. but metal musicians, especially on the underground, usually make metal becuase they love creating such music. Hell look at all the big name undergroundbands, how many of them have stopped making metal? Very very few. Hell even Venom is still attempting to put out a heavy metal record. So I will go with the middle range there.

 

[Demonspell]

1. B: I'd say there's an equal amount of lifers and transitory fans now.

2. Ideally I'd like to say C for reasons of artistic integrity, but B is a more realistic answer in this situation, as very little can be gained by following a dead end...

 

[General Zod]

1. A. Assuming that when we say "Metal fan", we are talking about a real fan of music, who happens loves Metal, and not someone who is not really a music fan and whose listening habits are set by MTV and FM radio. There is no question that there used to be more people attending Metal shows. However, those people were never really Metal fans, they were sheep following as they were told.

2. A. Anyone whose ever been in a band, knows how difficult it can be getting 4/5 guys to stay together, focused on a common goal. It would be down right impossible if there was no one to play for.

Zod

 

[lurch70]

i can't even understand half the words in that post

i think, like with all types of music, people "become fans" ... some stay, some abandon it after a while (grow out of it) ... some become "involved" in the scene for life.
it's hard to tell, but all this applies to all genres of music.

i would think there are far more transients than anything else. there is a guy who works for us now, that looks like an old school metalhead, but likes the Stones, Dylan etc. and only really likes Metallica and a lot of nu-metal shit.

metal "speaks" to some of us on a subconcious level, kinda like the life struggles and reality portrayed in hip-hop speaks to certain others.

i just remember one thing .. in high school, when hair metal was all that .. the kids into that were getting all the chicks as they were all happy go lucky party guys ... and the kids into death/thrash were depressive, smokers, drinkers, dark clothes wearing, grumbling, wanna be tough guys.

i tried to walk a fine line ... always liked the music, but tried to not take "visual sides"

but I am a lifer, I realized that a few years ago.

 

[NAD]

1. C
Only the devout ever stick around.

2. A, but close to 10%
A lot metal bands I listen to nowadays probably have like 500 fans across the globe, but they still do what they need to do.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

1. I can't really select one of those answers.

Once you reach a certain age I suppose, you realize that what you were doing was either silly, or it was something that really meant something to you and was a positive influence on your life. I get the impression that most people decide that they "grow out" of the music of their youth and then move onto whatever their peers are listening to. Although this assumption lies on the fact that I'm judging the average fan who listens to God Forbid and Shadows Fall and that most people don't really care to try to find better metal music.

This also has an alternative twist, that there are people out there that are mulleted and still think they're in the 80s, and listen to Anthrax and Ozzy Osbourne all the time because they can't be assed to grow up and out of it, or discover something new. This said: I don't think that the "average" metal fan is like us here at RC who buys 10 albums a month trying to learn all we can about the genre and music in general. Most people are sheep.

I base my assessment merely on my own perceptions of "metal fans" be they new, old or transitory. I may not be correct at all though, and I might just be pulling this out of my ass with little or no evidence to back this up. These judgements are just my perception of the issue, and there is probably no correct answer to either of these questions.


2. A. 0-9%

People would not make music if there wasn't a group of people to share it with, but there would be some misanthropes who would continue anyway even if they wouldn't be able to publish their material.

 

[JayKeeley]

This said: I don't think that the "average" metal fan is like us here at RC who buys 10 albums a month trying to learn all we can about the genre and music in general. Most people are sheep.

Good response.

Thing is, don't you think that it goes against the very nature of metal for the average metal fan to be so closed minded? The point being, in order to get into metal in the first place, you do need an open mind, correct? Let's face it, no metal is accessible, otherwise it would be 'pop music' or 'easy listening'.

So I'm always curious as to how metal fans can be so closed off, when inherent with being a metal fan demands for somewhat of an open mind.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

Its a bit of a paradox isn't it? The internet is changing things a lot though, making albums much more readily available for download so those who don't care can just fuck off and download all the albums they want without having to put in a large amount of financial resources for them and lessens the amount of research they have to do to find new stuff, because they're not worried about having to spend their hard earned dollars.

I know I'm being pretty arrogant here (with all my worldly wisdom at the age of 18 [uh-huh, yeah, sure]), but there are some people who have fun by the intellectual side and the thrill of discovering new material, while some people are just perfectly content with just drinking beer and headbanging to whatever they happen to come across. Some people like both sides. Some people are in it for social reasons and there are some people are genuinely interested in the music itself.

The people who are in it for social reasons will likely leave when it ceases to be a social event. Those who are in it for the music will continue on to listen for life. Of course this is all quite obvious.

 

[Tranquillian]

B and B.

 

[speed]

Damn your only 18 NicodemiX? Well your the most mature 18 year old male I know. AndI couldnt agree more with your comments. Most will do anything to be cool or get in the pants of some girl.

 

[Krilons Resa]

I too agree with 'demix. I am much too tired to give any full explanations tonight though. I closed on my house today and immediately started to rip up the carpet and started the painting. zzzz

 

[Demonspell]

Definitely agreed with Nicodemix about what separates casual fans from dedicated listeners...if you are unwilling to invest your time and attention to music, it inevitably fails to hold interest in the long term. I know it can be easy to ridicule people who view music from an intellectual perspective, but it's difficult to contribute to progress when you're in it for superficial reasons.

 

[Ayeka]

1. I dunno...seems to be a wide spread. I meet several old people who used to like Metal but fagged out and listen to indie, but also a good few lifers. As far as new people go, most grow out of it partway through their teenage years (drum&bass seems to be the popular alternative these days) but a few stick with it.

Ultimately, I'd say the majority of fan-bases are made up of sheep. A successful band is one that can keep the attention of part-time fans long enough for them to shell out for an album and maybe a t-shirt.

For that reason, I'd say the answer to 2 is A. And I expect the majority of those guys would be in the extreme metal scene.

As far as the 'open-minded' thing goes...I don't think it's a case of people being 'narrow-minded', they just know what they don't like and don't want to listen to it. Casual music fans will listen to anything and say they like it just to please people. I don't think this applies to Metal fans because this particular sound appeals to you for whatever reason. And if you like this sound, most of what the mainstream has to offer will be of no interest.