1. Metal Consumers Still Buying Albums
As you’ve likely seen by reading Metal by Numbers or just by paying attention to the charts, people aren’t buying anywhere near as many albums as they used to. While there are many reasons for that (illegal downloading and streaming services are the big ones) thankfully some metal records released this year have bucked the trend. With Meshuggah, Testament and The Sword posting higher record sales than ever before, it’s a testament (no pun intended?) to fans of heavy music that they’ll support artists they believe in. And while it’s getting easier and easier to forgo buying music in favor of listening to it for a fraction of what the bands used to make, metal fans will still shell out to own music from their favorite bands, which is encouraging.
