Everything in music business is much easier and faster with the internet and social media platforms over the years but is everything really better and faster? All music world and related branches of music business is totally under siege of the internet & social media corporations and their censorship,private corporate agendas and of course greed over years. The reality we observed that the final stronghold against this corporate invasion is underground metal and punk scene!
Most likely, some of you have faced internet censorship. For example, you cannot share anything about Burzum on Facebook, and on Etsy, you cannot display any Mayhem merchandise. Burzum is also banned on eBay. I came across news that eBay has removed Darkthrone, 1349, Emperor, Zyklon-B, and others.
Another topic is Spotify; many of these websites exploit the metal/punk community to increase their own popularity and profit, only to later ban the metalheads, just like Myspace did. (I still miss the old editable Myspace pages.)
Spotify is taking everything from musicians: licenses, advertisements, and money, while they are giving nothing in return at all. When you upload your tracks to Spotify or YouTube through licensing, you can’t freely upload your songs to other platforms or provide free downloads. They exploit numerous bands, regularly exploit some amounts of money from the bands and musicians’ profit for their own luxury. You can’t become rich or make money with your band’s feed after all, but they can!
Personally, I prefer Bandcamp over Spotify, but Spotify holds more popularity. Musicians want to be featured on Instagram, and Instagram is tied to Spotify. So if you’re not on Spotify, younger audiences may never discover you.
I must also express gratitude to Encyclopedia Metallum and Discogs. I strongly believe that the internet needs more idealistic platforms like them. Extreminal Magazine, in particular, has been fighting this battle for over 20 years as I have observed it for all 20 years here! For many times this magazine has been banned or discredited or banned visibility on social media because of the underground metal music art and artistic content by the social media platforms,which I mentioned above, and of course Google itself!
As for Etsy, they take a significant portion of fees, and leave you with very small income or nothing in the end. Some of my merchandiser friends and I have closed our accounts on that site, and I advise you to avoid it as well.
This is not the first instance; remember the USSR’s music censoring list? They banned punk music simply because punk music is punk! Now, Russia and the post-Soviet countries (CIS) have become another world of metal and punk! We have emerged victorious!
Do you recall how the American government sued legendary metal bands and banned their albums? Well, we have triumphed now!
How dare they?
They blabber on about violence, hatred, racism, and so on. Yet, I vividly remember videos on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms where ISIS brutally killed innocents. Any bloodthirsty leader can freely express themselves on social media, but punks and metalheads are labeled as troublemakers. You can find incest stories in books, but we are considered perverted? Television shows and fashion artists appropriate culture, clothing styles, and music for their benefit. They promote sexism, racism, brutality, and violence to children on TV, and yet they continue to intimidate us! Not a single metalhead has nuked any region! We have already spoken the truth through 80’s thrash metal, and it’s more than enough!
So, nothing has changed! In the past, governments and individuals have attempted to suppress us, but we are still here, ready to fight!
Is Zuckerberg a hardcore fan of Euronymous, or is Etys a fan of Varg Vikernes? They censor what they dislike. This issue extends beyond just metal; they seek control over everything. It’s all about power. When will Facebook have complete control over the internet? (They already own WhatsApp and Instagram.) What will happen then? You might never hear or discover certain bands, individuals, data, or history. It’s another virtual reality constructed with monopoly by the wealthy ones. They can effortlessly wipe out anything or anyone from the internet. This reminds me of the novel ‘1984,’ depicting total despotism. They show no respect for alternative lifestyles. Nevertheless, they will continue exploiting our culture for their mediocre prime-time shows! It’s a form of imperialism, occupying a land, plundering its treasures, and suppressing its languages and culture.
Someone may bring up anti-Religion,anti-Semitism, gore, violence and the list goes on; you can find them in films without any censorship, unlike us! You can comfortably immerse yourself in the glory of fascist regimes by watching historical films without any repercussions.
Roger Waters fought against this; they censored everything related to Julian Assange and the government’s crimes. Ironically, Facebook wants to purchase the license for ‘Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,’ denying Roger Waters the right to speak, yet they seek to appropriate Roger Waters’ music to gain more power.
It appears that internet censorship will continue to grow, targeting extreme cultures first. However, we always have the Underground as our sanctuary! Who will reveal the truth? In this post-truth age, we are the fucking heroes!Lol!
When a system is broken, they turn to old-school methods to fix it. The initial conditions impact everything at rest. We used to engage in activities such as fanzines, cassettes, CDs, concerts, merchandise, and more. While fewer metalheads are purchasing physical materials, many of them are paying our censors for digital listening.
‘Trade’ becomes a culture of exchanging materials without money. Can you think of any other culture that removes money from trade? This also provides an opportunity for bands representing themselves in the distant corners of the world. When you explore the history of legendary bands, you will discover strong underground connections with other bands and promoters because this is not virtual!
If they seek to govern us, we declare ourselves ungovernable! Those SM Corporations cannot control the Underground Music Business if you support your scene and Extreme metal music art independently. We must safeguard our underground music culture and keep the scene alive,scene by scene, by holding to our musical roots and being independent. Respect fanzines, labels, and promoters as much as we respect bands. This is real! This is not the corporate monopoly! This is us!
BONUS : PÄNZER – We Can Not Be Silenced
Olcay Karakeçi
