- Mar 5, 2019
- 17
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The following is a blog piece to generate debate on the current state of the underground metal scene in the age of streaming music ....
"Ask yourself this: Would the big 4 make it today if they were only just releasing right now in 2019. Who knows?
The underground metal scene is very different today, compared to the days when the Big Four became the big four; that is the mid-eighties, and early nineties.
Back then, when the scene was new, club gigs, tape trading, pen-pals and hand written fanzines were all a part of how a band got discovered.
For thrash, death metal and grindcore fans, attending shows, listening to underground metal radio stations, visiting metal record stores, reading metal magazines and occasionally catching metal music videos were the prime source of discovering new bands.
During this time, the internet did not exist as we know it, and metal fans had to work pretty hard to discover music and get their hands on the latest releases. And when a new tape or CD was added to a collection, it’d be worn out with listens, copied and traded, and sliced into mix tapes to share with your metal buddies.
Nowadays, it’s a very different story. Pretty much all metal music in the history of metal music is available online, anytime, anywhere… and its practically free.
Streaming services mean that choices for metal can be somewhat overwhelming! And with advances in recording opportunities, there are literally hundreds of new bands releasing material every week!
This means the challenge for any new band is getting their music heard, and building a dedicated listening audience. To achieve this, they must survive within a landscape dominated by the streaming giants and their dreaded algorithms.
Playlist curators, are the new music industry gods. Power, money and the ability to make a career in an instant all vests with these mysterious conductors of the music industry. And of course there is the influence of the big labels with the money, and the established artists who happily pay for the privilege to command top billing in the streaming jungle.
For an underground bands to get a look in, they must take control of their own promotion and push their music to the point where they are literally placing it in the hands of potential followers.
The struggle to get exposure has generated a whole bottom feeding industry, where the leeches of the world suck the blood and life from bands desperate for one their shot at the big time. Likes for likes, pay for followers, pay for streams, unregulated polls, unnamed curator submissions … this part of the industry can be nasty, and many new bands misstep at this initial stage and go under, to disappear forever.
But this struggle also creates an opportunity for a new underground scene, akin to the tape trading days of the past. True fans of metal now have an opportunity to seek out underground bands, and discover music that is not mainstream. They have a chance to connect individually with bands and be part of their success (or failure). Platforms such as Bandcamp, and even Instagram, offer small windows of discovery through targeted searching. Even Youtube channels such as BangerTV, who provide shout outs to independent releases, open new doors of discovery.
There are quite a few metal fans out there actively looking for the best new underground artist. Metalheads who want to discover new quality music that is buried under the immense sea of the streaming world. These explorers are the pioneers of the metal frontier and they can look beyond what the curators, labels and algorithms tell the masses to listen to.
And when they do find a cool new band, they follow them. They add them to their playlist. They stream their music and they connect with them on social media. They buy their CD and merchandise and they spread the word to other metalheads. And sometimes, these bands do discover the next Behemoth, At The Gates, or Death Angel … or maybe even Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer of Metallica!
So back to the initial question: Would the big 4 make it today it if they were only just starting in 2019. Maybe, or maybe not. It would all depend on whether they could overcome the sinister requirements of the algorithm, and this would be dependent on a healthy underground scene."
"Ask yourself this: Would the big 4 make it today if they were only just releasing right now in 2019. Who knows?
The underground metal scene is very different today, compared to the days when the Big Four became the big four; that is the mid-eighties, and early nineties.
Back then, when the scene was new, club gigs, tape trading, pen-pals and hand written fanzines were all a part of how a band got discovered.
For thrash, death metal and grindcore fans, attending shows, listening to underground metal radio stations, visiting metal record stores, reading metal magazines and occasionally catching metal music videos were the prime source of discovering new bands.
During this time, the internet did not exist as we know it, and metal fans had to work pretty hard to discover music and get their hands on the latest releases. And when a new tape or CD was added to a collection, it’d be worn out with listens, copied and traded, and sliced into mix tapes to share with your metal buddies.
Nowadays, it’s a very different story. Pretty much all metal music in the history of metal music is available online, anytime, anywhere… and its practically free.
Streaming services mean that choices for metal can be somewhat overwhelming! And with advances in recording opportunities, there are literally hundreds of new bands releasing material every week!
This means the challenge for any new band is getting their music heard, and building a dedicated listening audience. To achieve this, they must survive within a landscape dominated by the streaming giants and their dreaded algorithms.
Playlist curators, are the new music industry gods. Power, money and the ability to make a career in an instant all vests with these mysterious conductors of the music industry. And of course there is the influence of the big labels with the money, and the established artists who happily pay for the privilege to command top billing in the streaming jungle.
For an underground bands to get a look in, they must take control of their own promotion and push their music to the point where they are literally placing it in the hands of potential followers.
The struggle to get exposure has generated a whole bottom feeding industry, where the leeches of the world suck the blood and life from bands desperate for one their shot at the big time. Likes for likes, pay for followers, pay for streams, unregulated polls, unnamed curator submissions … this part of the industry can be nasty, and many new bands misstep at this initial stage and go under, to disappear forever.
But this struggle also creates an opportunity for a new underground scene, akin to the tape trading days of the past. True fans of metal now have an opportunity to seek out underground bands, and discover music that is not mainstream. They have a chance to connect individually with bands and be part of their success (or failure). Platforms such as Bandcamp, and even Instagram, offer small windows of discovery through targeted searching. Even Youtube channels such as BangerTV, who provide shout outs to independent releases, open new doors of discovery.
There are quite a few metal fans out there actively looking for the best new underground artist. Metalheads who want to discover new quality music that is buried under the immense sea of the streaming world. These explorers are the pioneers of the metal frontier and they can look beyond what the curators, labels and algorithms tell the masses to listen to.
And when they do find a cool new band, they follow them. They add them to their playlist. They stream their music and they connect with them on social media. They buy their CD and merchandise and they spread the word to other metalheads. And sometimes, these bands do discover the next Behemoth, At The Gates, or Death Angel … or maybe even Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer of Metallica!
So back to the initial question: Would the big 4 make it today it if they were only just starting in 2019. Maybe, or maybe not. It would all depend on whether they could overcome the sinister requirements of the algorithm, and this would be dependent on a healthy underground scene."
