“It takes like pop and rap to keep these labels going because those are the only people that are buying records anymore.”
I have already written about this on my personal Facebook page, but I’m going to bring it up here as well, but more evolved.
The quote in the title is a quote by no other than Jim Root to MorningCall magazine he made recently, and the quote had me stunned for several minutes and then it had me almost burning up.
Since when, SINCE WHEN, do metal heads not buy records?
On the contrary – Metalheads are precisely the people who still buy records. I remember an article from a few years back about a girl opening a recordstore selling metal music with the reason “Metalheads will always buy records”. When I go to Sweden Rock, there’ll be a record tent around every corner. I have yet to see this phenomenon at a mix-festival, because Peace&Love sure as hell did not have it. Why? Probably because the average pop and rap fans are NOT as likely to buy records. I personally have yet to meet a person outside the metal community that is as passionate and and true to their genre. Metalheads are collectors. They won’t batch an eye about getting all your various deluxe and special and collectors edition of your CD’s.
Sure – let’s talk about it quickly. There are plenty of metal heads who download illegally (why?) and there are metal heads who use Spotify more than CD’s for some reason, of course, and there are rap and pop people who are the same as metal heads – but you cannot deny that metal heads are one of a kind when it comes to dedication.
Perhaps what Jim Root meant to say was “Rap and pop are what is sold better commercially”. That, on the other hand is a whole new story. Pop and rap are generally more popular, and thus selling more albums. The problem is rather that he’s comparing his band to artists that are way, WAY ahead of them popularity wise. Lady Gaga has no problems selling out Ericsson Globe, and SlipKnot has yet to sell out Hovet. Metal as a sub genre is STRONG in it’s passion and dedication, but it isn’t as widespread popularity wise.
Another problem I can see with this is Spotify. And not Spotify per se – but how the band uses it. I pre-ordered “The Gray Chapter” in order to get it a little before hand – here in Sweden, the companies always ships the CD’s a bit before releasedate to make sure you have the CD in your hands on the release date, but in 99% of the times, the CD’s comes to you a day or two before the release.
Can you guys imagine my disappointment and resignation when I learn that they have decided to release the entire album almost a week before original releasedate on Spotify. Sigh. So what was the point of me preordering it, when I don’t get it “before” everyone else anyway? And it’s not like they make any money off Spotify, as we’ve started to learn lately.
I assume “The Gray Chapter” didn’t meet the expectations this band had for it in success, but here’s an idea – DO NOT RELEASE THE ALBUM FOR FREE A WEEK BEFORE THE RELEASE DATE AND PERHAPS MORE WILL BUY IT. Or wait all in all.
Sometimes I just get so fed up with some of the members of this band. At times it feels like they are pissing all over their fans. Ruining their phones, making it unsafe for them and now this shit. It feels like they have some inner frustration with each other and now they are taking it out on the fans. Seriously, could someone shoot them off their large horses? What sour stone as Jim Root been living under? Or is this phenomenon Europe exclusive? I don’t know, but I’ll quote Fredrik Strage:
“There are only three things that would survive a nuclear war: bacteria, cockroaches and metal heads“.
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 
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