Metal for the masses: how indie metal labels have adapted for the digital era

One of the areas that has most readily adapted to the changing musical environment is within metal music culture. Dedicated fans have taken responsibility upon themselves to create smaller record labels that specialize both in bringing attention to new, rising bands, as well as to do the laborious work that is needed to make sure that historical, out-of-print metal albums continue to receive new listeners. Their dedication has resulted in tightly-woven communities between these labels, the bands, and music fans, and this has contributed to the resurgence of physical mediums including vinyl and cassettes. Strategies are discussed that help push sales of physical media, including the release of special and elaborate versions of albums, often with unique packaging, or with limited color variants of vinyl editions. This article includes interviews with individuals that run underground metal labels and that host metal music streams, and they share their experience of how metal has changed as the music industry and the consumption of music has moved into the digital era, and the pros and cons that come with that, including perceptions about streaming and streaming services. Comparisons are made between major corporate labels and indie record labels, and the proactive role of indie labels in keeping musical subcultures thriving is assessed.