Metal bands: desperate salesmen?
- Thread starter iPod Destroyer
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Cythraul
Active Member
- Dec 10, 2003
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Yeah but the job of reviewers is not only to describe an album's contents but to evaluate the quality of the work. These metal bands who hype up their own releases are just counting on their fanbase to be a bunch of idiots. Nobody with an iota of experience in these matters is going to read a band's evaluation of its own work and go "holy shit, I need to go out and buy that right now!"
edit: or they just honestly believe that their own work is really great. But their judgment should not be trusted.
V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
Sure musicians are salesmen, but not necessarily desparate ones. They're basically running a business where they have to sell their product. This applies at all levels, even if you're a no-name local act trying to get people out to your gigs. I'm sure most of us aren't seldom influenced by this and view it as them merely going through the necessary motions, but 't personally believe generating that kind of hype is totally inconsequential and pointless. I certainly made a few blind purchases this way in my early teens based on a band's praise of their newest work. Call me gullible, but I doubt I'm the only one.
Just the same, it's probably worth considering that the band often perceives their work differently than the consumer. The consumers only get the final product to base their opinions on. On the other hand, the band is there from the earliest writing stages all the way through the recording and pressing, and I'm sure many of them factor in those experiences when formulating an overall opinion of the music and the record. They could record songs unanimously viewed as downright horrid by the fans, and the band themselves may ultimately share those feelings. But perhaps they also had a really pleasant studio experience or the band members were better able than ever to collaberate on the writing or something like that. Even if they feel, deep down, they like some of their older material better, they still might feel fairly accomplished and successful because of factors like this. Sure it's biased, but everyone has biases.
Just the same, it's probably worth considering that the band often perceives their work differently than the consumer. The consumers only get the final product to base their opinions on. On the other hand, the band is there from the earliest writing stages all the way through the recording and pressing, and I'm sure many of them factor in those experiences when formulating an overall opinion of the music and the record. They could record songs unanimously viewed as downright horrid by the fans, and the band themselves may ultimately share those feelings. But perhaps they also had a really pleasant studio experience or the band members were better able than ever to collaberate on the writing or something like that. Even if they feel, deep down, they like some of their older material better, they still might feel fairly accomplished and successful because of factors like this. Sure it's biased, but everyone has biases.
I think some of you people are ridiculously exagerating the commercial or sales aspect of this. You do realise most underground bands make virtually no money whether they sell one thousand albums or thirty thousand albums right? Nor do most of those bands, especially the more extreme ones, strike me as people who are in it for the money. Because if you are then you don't go making music which you know will never gain any kind of mass appeal whatsoever.
I think it's more about the fact that artists are inherently proud of their own work and lack objective (as far as such a thing is possible with judging the quality of art) and outsider perspective to value their work against their previous works. Ofcourse a band who makes a new CD is going to think that it is among the best music they've ever made. Why else would they keep making music? If the main songwriter in the band really did feel like the album he just wrote is mediocre at best and nowhere close to his previous material then I'd think band morale would be pretty low and eventually the band would just split. I think most bands who make statements such as "this is our best work ever" really do believe that it is.
That just doesn't mean you should believe it too.
I think it's more about the fact that artists are inherently proud of their own work and lack objective (as far as such a thing is possible with judging the quality of art) and outsider perspective to value their work against their previous works. Ofcourse a band who makes a new CD is going to think that it is among the best music they've ever made. Why else would they keep making music? If the main songwriter in the band really did feel like the album he just wrote is mediocre at best and nowhere close to his previous material then I'd think band morale would be pretty low and eventually the band would just split. I think most bands who make statements such as "this is our best work ever" really do believe that it is.
That just doesn't mean you should believe it too.
cookiecutter
Proceed to Ultraslamming
Even if they aren't making money, I'm sure the band/label wants to sell as many as possible and are not going to say "This album is mediocre". That would just be counterproductive.
Who said they should say that? I'm just saying that it's stupid to assume that every band who says their next album is going to be great is saying it because their label tells them to or because they want to make more money. I think it's more down to taking pride in your own hard work than anything else.
Alongside Death
On The Descent To Hell
- Oct 9, 2005
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Can't they assume a neutral solution? Something like "Check it and you will know how brutal is it".
I think we all heard the interview where the interviewer sucks up and goes something like "wow, you new album is totally heavy"! Then the band member goes, "yeah, it is our best yet"!
Ultimately any kind of artist has to sell their work to a market. Some go to the point of compromising to what they would feel would be more marketable, or they did it as a job than natural inspiration. They can not always admit their true feelings towards their work and abilities.
Ultimately any kind of artist has to sell their work to a market. Some go to the point of compromising to what they would feel would be more marketable, or they did it as a job than natural inspiration. They can not always admit their true feelings towards their work and abilities.
Dazed and Brutal
Yall About to Witness
Demilich
Remember
It is funny how no matter how hard they hype the new album, in 5 years they'll be shitting on it to hype up whatever they've thrown together for releaqse at that time.
Dazed and Brutal
Yall About to Witness
I can relate as I'll send out bulletins via my MySpace profile and I post on other forums besides this and I'll be sure to let people know about my new material or song I recorded. You have to let a variety of people get to listen to your music, otherwise you'll never get anywhere. I guess most every success-minded musician is like that.
Most bands IMO make their money from the touring and gigs and not from the albums sales... album sales is just extra $$... Extreme metal bands are not out to be millionaires but that doesn't mean they can't make a living at it... if they can make $50,000 per year per band member that isn't a millionaire but they are making a living....
Satanstoenail
My Larpstyle determines my Derpstyle
I agree that most of the time that's probably the case, but I'm sure there's heaps of bands that record uninspired crap and then get out there and give it the tried and tested positive spin even though their hearts aren't really in it.
Saparmurat_Niyazov
Member
I don't even make that much and I have a "real" job. I know for a fact that most metal musicians, underground or not, make approximately the same amount of money or less than I do off their music careers (this why many also hold down a day job).
Of course most bands are going to over hype their newest releases; money is very important to professional musicians (otherwise they would be amateurs, duh). I have witnessed an exception to this rule, as with the new Stratovarius album: in an interview I recall their guitarist admitting he did not particularly care for the end result.
MasterOLightning
Optimator
Actually, more metal musicians than you would expect are doing okay on their music these days. Especially those who are involved with the business side of things doing labels or distros.
I'm sure that whoever has done the writing for an album will think that it's really good, otherwise they would have written more material until they did think it was good. I can imagine session musicians or those not so involved with the creative process not liking the result though.
I'm sure that whoever has done the writing for an album will think that it's really good, otherwise they would have written more material until they did think it was good. I can imagine session musicians or those not so involved with the creative process not liking the result though.
cookiecutter
Proceed to Ultraslamming
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