RUNNING A METAL RECORD LABEL IN 2011

[Star Ark]

I'm glad the labels, the managers, the bookers, the graphic designers, the web page makers, the t shirt printers, the cd pressers, the mtv presenters, the roadies, the film clip directors, the mixers, the masterers etc are doing it tough. That's how it has been for the artists since the start. Now you all know how we feel....

plus if the artists gave up due the poor state of the industry we would have no industry....... the ones composing the songs are the industry.... I eagerly await the day it is only music for music's sake.....

 

[guitarguru777]

But Megadeth and Dream Theater runs Roadrunner

If by Megadeth and Dream Theater you mean Nickelback then yep .....

 

[guitarguru777]

Sure I can buy online but I've no paypal and don't have a credit card so online shopping isn't something I can do easily. Not a laziness thing, it's to do with my bank A/C.

Really ... cause that sounds like a load of horse shit when you can get something like a prepaid card that YOU yourself put cash on so you can order things online.

Your argument is like saying that because YOU are fucking gay, but you dont like cock up your ass so you only suck dick. Either way it makes you a fucking fag ....lol

 

[Star Ark]

Dunno about that. I buy local bands CD's all the time but it's rare enough that I buy a big bands CD unless i know its going to be truly special. It's for a few reasons. They're massively overpriced here and the selection is terrible. 29 euro each for Symphony X's, Devin Townshend and Scar Symmettry's last offerings in the local HMV. Translate that to dollars and it comes to over 40$. Whos gonna pay that for a CD they mightn't even like, not to mention the stock is the worst here.

Sure I can buy online but I've no paypal and don't have a credit card so online shopping isn't something I can do easily. Not a laziness thing, it's to do with my bank A/C.

I'm not alone in this, had a big discussion with a bunch of my mates about it and all came to the conclusion that we only buy a few cd's in the shops a year.

$40 for an album?
Fark, it's the opposite in Australia. We basically have one store, JB Hifi. They sell everything: hifi systems, computers, blue ray, games and dvd and a few rows of albums. Almost every album I buy these days is $9.99 and from JB. I would be interested to know if perhaps Australia for once is actually paying less for something than the rest of the english speaking world?

 

[guitarguru777]

I'm glad the labels, the managers, the bookers, the graphic designers, the web page makers, the t shirt printers, the cd pressers, the mtv presenters, the roadies, the film clip directors, the mixers, the masterers etc are doing it tough. That's how it has been for the artists since the start. Now you all know how we feel....

plus if the artists gave up due the poor state of the industry we would have no industry....... the ones composing the songs are the industry.... I eagerly await the day it is only music for music's sake.....

That was the 1800's before RECORDED music. Those dys are LONG GONE. You have all these crab core cunts recording shit in ther bedroom and releasing it just to be cool. Even though the songs suck they have the image so kids jump all over it.

ADOLESCENT & TEEN GIRLS run the music industry. What they buy is what you see on the charts. If you argue this fact you are a fucking retard. ALL of the top 10 bands / musicians / artists are bands chicks listen to. Its been like this since the late 70s. Only fucking women could love ABBA and the BEE GEES ...

Lets look at Billboard Musics Top 10
#1 - ADELE
#2 - PITBULL
#3 - LMFAO
#4 - Katy Perry
#5 - Bruno Mars
#6 Lady GaGa
#7 Jennifer Lopez
#8 Black Eye Peas
#9 Jason Adelan
#10 Nicki Minaj

Do guys listen to ANY of this? Seriously?

Ok lets look at top ROCK

#1 - Foo Fighters
#2 - Seether
#3 - Incubus
#4 - Foster The People
#5 - Rise Against
#6 - Deathcab For Cutie
#7 - Mumford & Sons
#8 - Coldplay
#9 - Sick Puppies
#10 - Sixx AM

The only bands in that last list that even verge on METAL are Rise Against and Sixx AM, fuck the Foo's are closer to metal then half of them.

My point being, ROCK & METAL are a dying art form. The music industry has gone the way of beat machines, sequencers and people who cant play instruments being able to churn out BULLSHIT music quickly that Young Girls listen to. Not a single rock artist in the top 10 .... how fucking LAME is that shit.

 

[digitaldeath]

Funny...I'm in the process of setting up an indie label that nails the majority of the points the MetalSucks article points out.

 

[Star Ark]

That was the 1800's before RECORDED music. Those dys are LONG GONE. You have all these crab core cunts recording shit in ther bedroom and releasing it just to be cool. Even though the songs suck they have the image so kids jump all over it.

ADOLESCENT & TEEN GIRLS run the music industry. What they buy is what you see on the charts. If you argue this fact you are a fucking retard. ALL of the top 10 bands / musicians / artists are bands chicks listen to. Its been like this since the late 70s. Only fucking women could love ABBA and the BEE GEES ...

Don't understand how your response even correlates with mine but hey, I believe in freedom of speech

 

[guitarguru777]

Don't understand how your response even correlates with mine but hey, I believe in freedom of speech

You said you eagerly await the days of music for music sake ...

I was simply stating those days are long gone once recording equipment existed. Then proceeded to show you how soul less generic bullshit music has taken over the industry.

 

[drew_drummer]

The reason rock and metal are dying artforms is.. oh ... wait... hang on a sec... they're not dying at all. Guru's mistake!!

 

[guitarguru777]

The reason rock and metal are dying artforms is.. oh ... wait... hang on a sec... they're not dying at all. Guru's mistake!!

I mean in terms of record sales vs pop music. Not metal an an entire genre. Metal is alive and well as far as the quality of music and bands that put out quality material. Its just not as sales friendly as it once was. We are talking about running a label? Right? So record sales do make a difference right? Whether they be digital or hard copy. If you don't have sales you make no money.

I mean lets take a look at something real quick. Roadrunner as mentioned earlier by someone....

Roadrunner in the 90s was known as the METAL Label. every band on the roster was some form of METAL. Type O being their first really big fish. Since then they have signed some pretty Non Metal bands, granted these bands are still Hard Rock / Heavy Rock but its not the pure in your face molten metal that the label was once known for.

Now you have artists like Nickelback, who yes have some tunes that are pretty heavy, but you also have things like Black Stone Cherry (Southern Fried Hard Rock), Slash (Hard Rock), Lenny Kravits (Pop Rock), Lynrd Skynrd (Southern Rock). hell even Sammy Hagar is on the Label!

Even a label once known for being the epitome of METAL and Heavy music had to branch out into other genres to stay relevant. All the other small lables in the 80s and 90s that stayed true, Nuclear Blast, Combat, Megaforce have kind of fallen to the way side cause they stayed within 1 specific genre.

 

[drew_drummer]

But how does any of that relate to metal and rock dying? A label has to expand to stay in business... so what.... that doesn't mean metal and rock are dying. It just means that a particular avenue of interest has suddenly got piss weak. Another one will pop up in its place.

Supply and demand really. As long as there are metal fans, there will be companies trying to sell product to them.

 

[guitarguru777]

At this point you are just trying to be argumentative .....

If you don't see then point then your just blind to the entire point of this thread. How to succeed as a METAL label in the modern age.

 

[smy1]

Guru: you are failing to see that we are where we were in the 80s ... electro (disco) and grid-metal (hair-metal) rule their respective genres. Soon a new Kurt Cobain will come along and make rock bigger again. It's the normal 20 year cycle.