Mostly metal bands probably, but just good music in general.
I think that’d be a cool thing I could keep frequently updated, and help people find new, awesome bands to love.
Anybody think that’d be cool? 

I’ll start it either tomorrow or next week.
Stay tuned!

Also, any ideas for a cool, music-related username to use?

I was reading an article on UG about how Angela Glossow from Arch Enemy was complaining about music downloaders and their contribution to the falling of the ‘music industry’. A guy under the username: Dylan6998 posted a really great point, or in my opinion, thought was really great. I thought I’d share it below— Feel free to let me your thoughts. Shoot me an ask.

The original article can be found here:  http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/if_you_rip_music_for_free_you_tick_i_dont_care_if_my_fave_band_dies_box.html

Is anybody going to talk about making music for the sake of music, like, at all? If you’re a musician and you stop making music because you can’t afford to do it anymore, then you were never a musician, you were a commodity, like a plumber . You provide a service for a fee rather than an artist allowing people to see their art. I can name at least 10-15 bands I like that put their record up for free on band camp or set it to a pay what you like system. These are bands that actually don’t give a sh*t, they play small clubs for five people and they love every second of it. To me true artistry means not needing to make money or receive accolades for your work. Sure you can say, “I want to be the richest violinist alive” or “I want to be the best drummer in the world”. In which case you’d most likely need monetary compensation or some kind of formal recognition to satisfy those needs. But to me, you CANNOT lump “musicians” into the same category as Lars Ulrich over a decade ago with Napster or Arch Enemy and their clear dissatisfaction with their craft when they aren’t being compensated for it. I know several of the bands that I like purposefully avoid all kinds of advertisement, unless it’s for one of their local shows. They just put out lo-fi records when they can, print t-shirts now and again and so forth. Now, what’s the difference between those bands and Arch enemy? Nothing, except that Arch Enemy will I guess die if they don’t get paid or something… not sure. I’ll use another example; one of my favorite bands is Mamaleek. They’re a brother duo that makes amazing black metal in their basement. They don’t play shows, they don’t do interviews, nobody knows what they look like. They’re almost anonymous save for the name of their band. These guys are true musicians. Their purpose in life is to make music, whether it’s in front of 5 people, 5,000 people, 5,000,000 people, or for each other … alone… in their basement, by themselves. Now, let me be clear, I’m NOT saying that it is NOT ok for artists to try and make money off of their work, quite the opposite, making cds, printing shirts, studio time, equipment… all of these things cost money and money is a necessary evil in this world if you WANT to reach a wider audience. My point is that not ALL musicians feel this way, and with the examples I’ve just provided, one can never claim that simply pirating ones’ music correlates to an inevitable and inescapable death of their art. All of this anti-piracy nonsense is pushed by record companies because our generation were the ones that woke up and went, “oh man I don’t have to pay $20 for a record at target anymore? Or go to Narnia to find those original, non-re-released, frank zappa vinyl?” I can google Stary Night right now via the internet, but I’ll be damned if Vincent Van Gough gets a buck or two every time I google his art. You know what? He still painted too! For years and years surprisingly enough, because he didn’t care. He got by enough to pat for fresh materials and that’s… about… it. Believe it or not, he still found a way to enjoy his craft… shocking!!!

In conclusions, Arch Enemy cannot speak for the entire music making community. Music was around before it became an industry, it will be here long after the industry collapses due to lack of internet and lack of talent. Indie labels will reign supreme until corporate execs unplug their ears and listen to what people actually like, not what they can trick us into liking. Music was here before MTV demanded that you have an image to match your sound, and it will be here when the last music video is played before yet another Ridiculousness marathon. You want to pretend that business is an essential part of music? Fine, call it supply and demand. You have a product people are willing to pay for, they will pay for it. People feel that it’s not worth their money, they won’t pay for it, or they will find a way to get it for free, it’s evolution baby. Some of us like to support the bands we like, some of us don’t. Neither makes us thieves nor martyrs, because we’re all still fans at the end of the day. We appreciate the art, in whatever way we see fit. That’s the entirety of the enjoyment of art, we get to decide how we appreciate it. The second someone tells me I cannot see their art without paying for it, is the second I have to evaluate how important their art is to me, then I get to decide how I want to appreciate it, simple as that. Any band that gets upset for each and every album that gets downloaded for free really needs to evaluate what they’re art means to them and what they’re willing to do to make it either a profitable business or something else entirely.