Leon Chiang

You're quite right that it's all up to listeners to make the choice. My observation is that many people are indeed attracted by new things, so perhaps you and me just have different observations. Of course, a lot of people would just pay attention to the music itself, but there are also a whole lot who would look at something else. I also respect you for focusing on music alone. When I listen to music I also pay very much attention to the music itself, but my observation tells me a lot of people are different from me. They would prefer more exciting, creative experience. Again, I want to note that this is my observation. I believe my observation and your are both correct because you can always find people who prefer either way. I'm not promoting any marketing ploy. I just want to say that an artist could be creative in connecting audience better, and this can be achieved by adding new elements to his/her work or through a creative presentation. Certainly, he/she can choose to just focus on music. That's pretty much different choices we all have to make.

I'm also promoting indie bands. I believe most indie bands are struggling not because they're lazy, but because they lack differentiating factors. They simply need to figure out some creative things and add these to their music, their music videos, their merch, their everything. Not only metal is struggling, but many artist in many genre are struggling. Music is very important, but the more important thing is to make yourself different. If Susan Boyle was 20 years old, she wouldn't have any success. Her differentiating factor is her age (of course she's a great singer). I suggest that all musicians figure out their differentiating factors. Focusing on music is good, but there must be something more.