It's hard to be a Symphony X fan these days...

E

ebeyrent

NH Symphony X fanatic
Dec 8, 2005
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www.pigeffer.com
I've been a fan of Symphony X for a long time now, and I truly the band is one of the absolute best.

However, it's not easy being a fan. It's like watching your significant other get deployed to Iraq and you don't hear from them in a long time. You hear rumors about them, they occasionally send you an incredible present, and then when they finally show up in town, they take you on a date to the shittiest venue in the state, and then you don't hear from them again for a few years.

What the fuck, guys?

Is it really all that hard to keep your website up to date with news about what you're all doing, either separately or as a band? Your last fucking update was back in June??? And it was posted in this shit forum, and not even on your website. Have you guys heard of Twitter? Facebook? Seriously??

How do you expect to keep a fan base this way?! :mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Happens with EVERY release. Info sharing isn't as easy anymore, with Jax doing the updates on her own, there are other parties involved.

As for this "shit forum", don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out,
If you need help finding the door let me know, I'll be glad to assist you....
 
when the information DOES come the wait and surprise will make the new album all the sweeter :D

I DO wonder where JAX is though, has been a while
 
The long wait will be worth it as long as the band delivers another great album, which will almost certainly happen. Now, if the album turns out to be a disappointment, then you can complain, but seeing as that's unlikely.... Seriously, making an album takes time.
 
You know what this is, folks? This is the fucking fall-out from the younger generation growing up with the information-on-demand social scene. Instant message, instant gratification, instant fucking Quaker oats. Instant pudding too. Because you can Google this or Tweet that, gone are the days when patience and expectation breed excitement for the arrival of a POSTED letter in the mail, of long catch-up stories with booze and a bonfire, of news of a beloved band's exploits.

You mean I can't have it now? Well then I'm going to fucking cry, and you're going to have to put up with it. //Thumbs down//
 
Ken, I agree with your sentiment, but realistically this is not going to change...only get worse if anything. As I've said before, I couldn't care less how the band decides to run their business (I like the music they put out and will purchase it if and when it becomes available), but from the perspective of someone who makes his income 100% from music, it is a bit odd to me that they (ESPECIALLY the label/management) don't push the product more.
 
Meedleyx10 said:
Can you elaborate on this? I'm curious to hear this one explained...not saying I disagree (yet), just curious to hear your logic on this one.
Click to expand...

Someone puts their stuff out there. It's just stuff like any other stuff. Except some people think it's not, they think it's something more than just stuff. They support this person and his stuff by buying the person's stuff, merch, go to his concerts, spread a good word about him etc. In other words they're now his fans.
The artist can in turn, if he wishes, repay this with fan services such as running blogs, twitters, forums, help support fan clubs and fansites, but it's nothing he necessarily has to do. A lot of artists don't even do live shows for various reasons (if you consider this to be fan service).
There's nothing that says that just because you are a fan of someone/something, you should expect to get something back for it.
I thought this was evident for any fan of Symphony X.
 
Phanto said:
There's nothing that says that just because you are a fan of someone/something, you should expect to get something back for it.
Click to expand...

True, no one can think a band as product. Not like the band has to give the fans what they want and keep them informed about everything. Sure the fans support the band by buying the CD's and going to concert etc, but still it should be that the band gives what they want/can and fans accept it the way it is and just enjoy the music.
 
Progbass said:
True, no one can think a band as product. Not like the band has to give the fans what they want and keep them informed about everything. Sure the fans support the band by buying the CD's and going to concert etc, but still it should be that the band gives what they want/can and fans accept it the way it is and just enjoy the music.
Click to expand...

Yup. :D
 
Kenneth R. said:
You know what this is, folks? This is the fucking fall-out from the younger generation growing up with the information-on-demand social scene. Instant message, instant gratification, instant fucking Quaker oats. Instant pudding too. Because you can Google this or Tweet that, gone are the days when patience and expectation breed excitement for the arrival of a POSTED letter in the mail, of long catch-up stories with booze and a bonfire, of news of a beloved band's exploits.

You mean I can't have it now? Well then I'm going to fucking cry, and you're going to have to put up with it. //Thumbs down//
Click to expand...

Yeah true, but in the 60's/70's bands would tend to put out an album every year or so, rain or shine. Now 2-5 years is more common most of the time it seems.
 
What seems to be getting somewhat overlooked here is that "marketing efforts" for Symphony X are not meaningful in any way to the die hard Symphony X fan. Whether he gets a twitter update every 5 minutes (ala Mike Portnoy) or hears nothing until the CD is released, the die hard fan is still going to buy the album and go see the concert, and the band makes the same amount of $ from his participation either way.

However, it is the fringe Symphony X fan whose monies and loyalty are at stake. Those people who only know the band in the "I've heard of them; they sounded pretty cool" sense could end up going one way or the other on buying the album depending on how prevalently the band stays in their conscious'. If new, interesting information keeps popping up on the radar of the fringe fan, he may commit to buying the album; conversely, if no new information shows up to remind him that, essentially, the band still exists, he may forget about it and move on to other music.

So while it is nice when a band gives die hard fans updates and information--because we all do care enough to want to know--it is not monetarily beneficial or vitally important in any way. However, in regards to the fringe fans, the fact that Symphony X does not do more to communicate with their fans is just terrible business.

Often in this genre of music, bands declare that popularity/money is not the impetus and that they only care about making the music they love. I'm perfectly fine with that (or the opposing) sentiment, but that is not consistent with the fact that Symphony X's two most recent releases have quite clearly featured a staunch effort to be more commercially viable and appeal to a wider audience. If the band wants to go that route, they should be consistent and start up the Twitter/Facebook efforts in full force. If they want to take the stance that they are doing this all for the music, they should be locked away working on another masterpiece like V rather than sinking down to the simplified, riff-heavy, guitar dominant form of Paradise Lost, which is clearly aimed at the hoi polloi.
 
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