Album Rating: 2.0

Yeah, I'll never forgive them for what they tried to turn Darkest Hour into.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

that's it

Album Rating: 3.0

oof

Album Rating: 2.5

I don't know shit about Sumerian Records. What did they do?

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

@Kalk: i mean they're the reason why Born of Osiris is releasing two mini-LP's this year instead of a full LP for one.

Album Rating: 2.5

The same stuff Between The Buried And Me did? Lol

It doesn't make sense actually, no one makes money from album sales.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

"record labels should be fucking extinct by now fuck any artist that signs to a major or a subsidiary under a major"

Just because staying indie has sort have worked for Villain of the Story or Our Hollow, Our Home doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone. See The Intercedent for an example of that; despite showing a ton of promise since I found them on Bandcamp in 2014, they still only have 11 monthly listeners on Spotify...not exactly the heights I would've wanted to see them reach.

Album Rating: 3.0

I’ll never forgive Sumerian for passing on Substructure but signed a ton of other trash bands instead

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Signing to a decently-sized label is usually the easiest way to kickstart a band's career. Not everyone has the marketing prowess of a band like VOTS, and even then that band barely has any presence on forums like this anyway. If Periphery had never signed to a label, who the fuck knows where they'd be at this point.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Major labels have far more reach than some kid with 50 twitter followers in a band, of course it's going to boost their numbers dude. It's a double edged sword.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I agree that labels have a tendency to be skeezy ass bitches, probably why I won't sign to one myself, but I don't blame anyone for going that route. You think Green Day was going to break through with Dookie when they were still on Lookout?

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I think when bands that have a ton of potential spend years in the underground with barely 20 monthly listeners, yeah they're going to need a hand up. Possibly from a label to help get their name out there.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

And sure, it's easier now than it was 20 years ago, that doesn't mean shit when you still have to pay to even think about getting more reach on social media.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Well that was all in vain, fucking Hank.

Album Rating: 4.5

And Ash (the head of Sumerian) stated in an interview he was the one pushing them towards singles or hits rather than a natural progression of their sound.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I'm probably going to flip shit if it turns out my favorite Periphery song didn't come naturally for them, because that probably means they won't try and top it for me again.

Album Rating: 3.0

The erasing of hank

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

glorious day

Album Rating: 3.0

"And Ash (the head of Sumerian) stated in an interview he was the one pushing them towards singles or hits rather than a natural progression of their sound."



This is the (understandable) short sightedness of record labels. They obviously want crossover mainstream hits because that makes money, but it has the capacity to hurt a band's longevity more than it helps.



Case #1. Tantric sold a million copies of their debut album on the strength of "Breakdown", but I saw them perform in Brooklyn a couple of months to a crowd of about 30 people. Part of that may be that it was Brooklyn and hipsters aint got time for a band whose big hit was 17 years ago. But it also might be that the band never cultivated a fanbase. They sold a million records and a lot of tickets for a little while because they had a lot of fans coming to hear one song, but when people got tired of that song they moved on.



Case #2. Shadows Fall's drummer recently opened up about the "hiatus" of the band being caused by the fact that when they tried to go mainstream a lot of their core fanbase bailed on the band and without that core fanbase nobody was coming to shows.



Case #3. Mastodon and BTBAM consistently sell out shows because they a). they have a good grasp on how big their fanbase is and b). have organically build rabid core fanbases who have stuck with them for close to two decades.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

That's precisely why signing to a label is such a double edged sword. Sure it'll give you a kickstart but it's up to you to keep engaging the audience.