Pretend you're an unknown 80's metal band

You've got a loyal, but small fan base. You're signed by a record company and are releasing albums every couple years, yet are still unknown outside the Metal circuit. Then in the Mid-1990s you put in a metal version of a christmas song in one of your albums. A radio station picks up on it and plays it and suddenly it spreads nationwide and everyone wants to know about your band.

Only problem, they like your one christmas song, nothing much else.

Do you:

A) change to focus on christmas music, knowing that's what the people want to hear, making you into a mainstream band

or

B) continue doing what you've always done, even if it means going back to obscurity, or being known as a one-hit wonder

but in this day and age go web and do what you want. I have listeners all over the world but my base is small. I like it that way.

Id imagine with this particular band you'd do very well in Europe, Scandinavian countries seem to be really big on metal these days.

Forgive me if I am coming off all knowy or something I am PUI right now :)

Savatage started in the 80s as a metal band, then put their metal version of carol of the bells in an album. It became really popular that they turned to christmas music as a side project, naming themselves "Trans-Siberian Orchestra." Savatage continued till 1997 before they went exclusively as TSO. And they were big in Europe as Savatage before becoming big in the US as TSO.

Now thats just gosh darned neat! I had conjured up a very different kind of set of musicians in my head. Yeah TSO is incredibly good and they did the right thing. The way you'd phrased it read to me kind of like they'd be selling out not doing what they wanted.

Thank ya kindly for the lesson btw ;)

just wanted to see what others would do. A lot of bands are quite happy not being mainstream and a lot of others that try to go mainstream fail anyway. TSO made it work and now when they tour they do both christmas music as well as non-christmas metal.

but I didn't know the history. thanks for sharing. :)

Interesting...

Not sure why, just would.

and that will increase my fan base.

nt

that openly mock everything sacred and unmockable in the world. Kill Johnny Rotten on stage. Nobody would report it anyway.