BURTON C BELL --There is no more ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

In the interview conducted by our own Karma Omowale, Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory mentions how things are different now; that there is no more Artist Development.

No one knows better than him, as the legendary singer of Fear Factory has seen a lot in the industry change, moreover he has a point.

Being a journalist in the scene you can see the difference between the state of music today particularly metal, versus only five years ago.

Burton said, that bands do not have that "guy" anymore and that bands are expected to already be established. Moreover, he also said that big companies, like their former, Roadrunner, don't promote like they used to. This, of course, has do to the economy, being that it is in the most disgusting state that it has been in over the past ten years.

The record companies have been hit hard by the internet becoming a factor, making it easy for people to download whole albums for a price (or not) versus going out to the record stores. (Whats that?) *laughs*

Not only that, artists are more accessible to fans through their own Myspace, Facebooks, Blogs and whatever else they can use to promote themselves thus not needing the person to do the work.

Since that has taken place, many companies have fallen by the wayside, either just barely making it or ending up in bankruptcy court.

This is even more true in harder music. The quality and quantity of bands that are coming out these days is very poor.

Gone are the days when great new music by hot new bands would be the first thing you went out to Tower to buy.

Maybe I am old fashioned like Burton, because I see that the bands already established are keeping their fans because we as record consumers know that there is not a lot of new talent to get into.

Therefore, Burton's point about the lack of Artist Development is a valid one. There are not a great number of good new bands because there is nobody to bring them along.

ANYONE can have a band, put their shit on Youtube and FB and sell cd demos out of their cars. That does not mean that they are any good.

Unfortunately, these last couple of years has been a wasteland as far as up and coming bands go. There are a few bright lights but nothing as significant as when bands like Lamb of God, Devildriver, Killswitch, etc hit the scene.

Burton you are correct sir. Hopefully someone will listen to you and change that.

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