Let me start off by saying this: although Metal Archives is a great resource for learning about metal bands, you should stay away from the community as they will completely ruin the experience for you. The most obvious problem with the community is the elitism.
Let me just admit that I, too, can be elitist at times, but then again, what metalhead isn't elitist? The users of Metal Archives, on the other hand, take it to the extreme. I've experienced their obnoxious elitism in two ways. The first time was when they finally allowed digital-only bands to be accepted into the archives and I tried to add Cursed Altar. (That's another sign of the site's elitism: it took them until 2013 to accept digital-only bands.) When I tried to add them, I discovered they were black listed. I assumed this was because they released digital-only releases, so I asked the mods to white list them. However, they said the reason they black listed the band was because they played post-rock/ambient. I tried to show them how metal the band was, yet they still insisted they "weren't metal enough". This is one of the main problems with the site. A band's worth is determined by a bureaucracy of elitist know-it-alls who believe their opinions are absolute. The criteria for being "metal enough" is both arbitrary and subjective. I can understand why Slipknot and Korn aren't allowed on the site, but let's remember that this is the same site that still won't allow Anal Cunt or Last Days of Humanity.
The other manifestation of their elitism is the utter disdain they show towards anyone who downloads music. They have on their forums a thread called "Ways to reduce CD album piracy". I posted on there explaining that I pirate music because I can't afford to buy CDs. When I said that, they proceeded to dog pile me, saying that I'm "entitled" and that I'm "contributing to the death of metal" and that if I can't afford to buy music, then I "don't deserve to listen to music". The arguments they made against me ranged from the completely ridiculous to the outright fallacious. If they're truly concerned about money, a pirate and a lost customer who "goes without" look exactly the same. Being sanctimonious accomplishes nothing. I tried to explain to them the error of their ways, yet they wouldn't listen and continued insisting that if I can't afford to buy physical music, then I don't deserve to listen to music. I felt like Peter Schiff when he was trying to reason with the members of Occupy Wall Street.
They seem to think that the only way you can be a real metalhead is to buy physical music. What they fail to realize is that we now live in a world where doing so no longer make sense. They fail to realize is that most metalheads today would have never become metalheads if it weren't for file sharing. File sharing lowers the barrier for entry and it gives people a greater opportunity to become metalheads. Judging by the reaction I got, the users of Metal Archives don't want that. They would rather keep the gates closed and let metal stagnate and languish in obscurity. Their admission policy reads, "Only metalheads who buy physical music allowed. Metalheads who can't afford physical music need not apply."
They seem to think that the only way you can be a real metalhead is to buy physical music. What they fail to realize is that we now live in a world where doing so no longer make sense. They fail to realize is that most metalheads today would have never become metalheads if it weren't for file sharing. File sharing lowers the barrier for entry and it gives people a greater opportunity to become metalheads. Judging by the reaction I got, the users of Metal Archives don't want that. They would rather keep the gates closed and let metal stagnate and languish in obscurity. Their admission policy reads, "Only metalheads who buy physical music allowed. Metalheads who can't afford physical music need not apply."
The only reason I started posting on the Metal Archives forum in the first place was to promote my blog. It's becoming more obvious with every passing day that they don't want me there. They hate me because I don't conform to their ideology. As I said at the beginning of this post, Metal Archives is a great source of metal information, but I want nothing to do with their community. Besides, I never even got that much traffic from them.
0 comments:
Post a Comment