What would it take to make rock and metal more mainstream?
 

To top that Carly Ray Jensen, fun, or any of those other pop, country, and rap "artists"? To be blunt, a band would have to capture the audience of teenagers, female in particular. The band would have to appear on some of the most popular network shows that many young people watch. The young population is what gave Maroon 5 their bppst, then it came to Lady Gaga, then Lil Wayne, and so on.

If younger populations can be persuaded to listen to, even take a look into, rock and metal music, there is a chance that type of music could get a boost it has lost in the last decade. As Corey Taylor of Slipknot noted metal is losingg any attention of the mainstream media, that indeed is very real and scary.

What do you think?

Were the mainstream media ever really any more interested in metal than they are now?

In the 80s Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer were given a boost, and they still had a boost in the 90s.

In fact, people would listen to whatever is on tv or radio. If today the mainstream media starts playing Slipknot, Beatles, or even, Tchaikovsky, people will start listening to it and liking it. The reason is in the media, not in the bands. The mainstream media plays music that is very easy to listen and they earn more and more money from this. So, I don't think that there is something a rock or metal band can do to earn some mainstream attention, which is scary, indeed.

You're only ever gonna get the most popular, best exposed, biggest selling of rock and metal music capture the attention of the mainstream. As far as I can tell, that has continued to happen. Whether rock and metal features as predominantly now as it did in the 80s, I dont know. I was born in '84. Likewise I also dont know how album sales in general from the 80s to now would compare.

Since the turn of the millennium though, its not like rock and metal hasnt featured in the mainstream, radio or charts. New releases from the likes of Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Metallica etc have continued to sell well, bands like Iron Maiden have not only done well but have made themselves relevant again with a younger audience and I would say that the following have enjoyed success in, or briefly flirted with, the mainstream media over the last 12 years:

Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Nickleback, Foo Fighters, Muse, Arctic Monleys, Kings of Leon, System of a Down, Sum41, Staind, Godsmack, Saliva, White Stripes, The Strokes, The Hives, P.O.D, The Killers, Audioslave, All Time Low, Green Day...

Yeah, the best bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica are still famous and sell very well, but I can't tell that they are mainstream. And these new bands which you listed are famous, but the only people who listen to them are people like us who visit music forums and read about music and search videos and so on. The average person today listens to whatever is on mainstream tv or radio channels and they are not aware of many rock and metal artists. For example, search in Youtube "Slipknot" and see how much views their clips have, and then search for "Katy Perry" and compare the views, or ask some young people in the street if they have heard of Avenged Sevenfold or Rihanna. Rock and metal genres are not buried but they have been put on second place by the pop and hip hop music.

I think its time to throw in the towel. Metalheads are a dying breed. Good luck with your plight. Throws on Carly Rae Jepsen.

Slipknots first album sold more than 2 million copies. Most of Avenged Sevenfolds albums have gone gold or platinum. Yeah, we can compare these kinds of bands to the ultra successful, the very high end of mainstream success but thats somewhere that most hard rock and especially heavy metal has never been.

Thats why some type of action needs to be taken. Metalheads are possibly one of the best type of people out there. It would definately brighten up the charts, thats for sure.

Because thats what every metalhead wants, their favourite band to be commercially successful?