TriviumGirl asks: What do you think is responsible for the fact that the symphonic metal genre is not as popular in America as it is in other countries?
Hi TriviumGirl, that is one of my husbands favourite bands.
I strongly believe it’s the arrogance of the American music listener that contributes to it. Often, music fans don’t think any good music exists outside of the US, music from other countries is often stereotyped as out-dated or only ethnic.
Hell, a common stereotype of European music is that it sounds like its from the 80s! Or that South American music only consists of mariachi music with an occasional Shakira somehow being discovered. How dumb is that??
So they think they don’t need to look outside of the US because why waste their time?
This is a problem for the symphonic metal genre because most of the bands reside outside of the US. I think Evanescence did the genre a favor in that people started to look for other bands that were similar and then stumbled upon the genre.
Also, people think that metal is either 1. 80s hair bands or 2. Knuckle-dragging goth music about Satan.
People are constantly surprised when I tell them there are over 30 subgenres of metal and symphonic metal tends to have a lot of classically trained musicians.
So, yeah, I would say ignorance and arrogance are the two main factors. That, and American listeners are generally lazy. They listen to what is on the radio, and that is it.
There is a lack of caring of music, they think they are entitled to getting music free and don’t believe artists should be supported. Can you tell I feel very strongly about this??