THE HARD R: DALLAS ON WHERE THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS HEADED
Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 5:00pm by Dallas Coyle
Axl and Vince have proclaimed “music is worthless” many amounts of times. Stating that music is worthless is a bold point. Honestly, I’m surprised the dudes haven’t come under more scrutiny for saying such a thing. It is a VERY bold statement. Every single time I see this statement written on the site I have a gut inclination to write about this very topic. So here goes…
In my honest opinion, MetalSucks.net is a very influential site. [Thanks! We hope you're right. - Ed.] Kids across the world come here every day to find metal news, metal gossip, metal opinion. From the moment I came to the site I knew there was something different about it. My first impression was an interview my brother did with MetalSucks.
When I read the interview, something clicked for me. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what it was that made me get in touch with Axl and Vince and start The Hard R. I did my first blog and the dudes were stoked. I was, too. Speaking to Vince and Axl recently, they’ve informed me that many of their celebrity bloggers approached them about writing for the site. MetalSucks has an amazing amount of influence and a lot of it has to do with its overall vibe, but also the “muse” behind the content. It’s obvious that the musicians think MetalSucks brings something different to the information metal highway.
This is the CNN, the MSNBC and, occasionally, the FOXNEWS for the metal scene. The serious issue here is: what is stated here can be interpreted as truth more times than not. It’s one of the many reasons I have respect for these guys. They don’t give a story legs until they make sure it’s legit. If they do jump the gun it’s because they have something else to say: usually funny, mostly sarcastic and sometimes frightfully prophetic.
Let’s take a look at the landscape of the metal scene from the business standpoint as it exists today. FACTS: 1) Record sales are way down. 2) Internet* downloading is through the roof. 3) Record labels, in general, stereotype themselves to reach a specific demographic which they believe will sell them more albums. RUMOR: The album is extinct.** With this grim picture, I’d have to say Axl and Vince are spot on.
