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Interview with
Mike Riddick of Metalhit.com
By Dave Schalek - September 2010 |
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| Metalhit.com is the brainchild of
Mike Riddick. Mike’s business is to provide digital
albums at a high bit rate of 320 kbps of a wide range of
artists on different labels, all at the low price of
$4.99 per album. In addition to providing access to a
wide range of labels, Metalhit.com also has an in house
roster of bands whose music is directly distributed by
Metalhit.com without any outside label support.
Recently, I had a chance to interview
Mike, as well as peruse many of the albums that are
available on the company’s well organized website.
First, my interview with Mike followed by a brief look
at a number of the albums that I enjoyed.
Please give consumers an
overview of the products that you have to offer.
Our digital music store offers high fidelity (320 kbps)
Mp3 files at 95 cents per song and $4.99 for full album
downloads. The site also boasts unlimited track preview
capability and a streamlined purchase process. We hope
to offer lossless WAV files in the near future at the
same price point(s). Our store features about 20,000
extreme metal songs of all varieties.
Our merch store features merchandise from various bands
and labels we manage the exclusive distribution for here
in the USA. We will soon be offering specialized
merchandise that will accompany the purchase of digital
downloads. For example, we will be offering spiked
leather arm bands that will accompany, for example, a
black metal album download. Other items will include
unique jewelry and various animal skull relics.
For bands and independent labels, we offer the
opportunity to assist with their digital and physical
distribution needs, ranging from small level support to
store and retail chain support. We also have a variety
of discounted marketing campaigns available for bands
and labels to take advantage of. These include discounts
they wouldn’t find elsewhere or on their own.
How are your services available to consumers in other
countries?
Our digital distribution reach is global whereas our
physical distribution services are exclusive to the USA,
though it can extend into South America, Canada and the
UK. We welcome bands and labels from all reaches of the
globe. In fact, most of our label and artist partners
are based overseas because we provide a significant
portal through which to bring exposure to their work
here in the USA. |
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What services do you offer to artists and bands? What
advantages does Metalhit.com offer over other, more
traditional means of releasing music to the market?
The advantage we offer in comparison to other services
rests in our specialization with metal music. We rarely
work with content other than metal, so this is our
focus. Having been involved in the underground scene
since 1992 and now having a more expansive network of
resources through our management of Metal Maniacs, we
have a lot of contacts in the genre that allow us to
score special arrangements and offers for the artists
and labels we support and represent. Our focus is
specialized and I believe that is our greatest asset. We
also have other advantages, such as competitive rates
with comparable services and additional perks like added
free promotional services, meeting specialized needs and
the ability for smaller labels to take advantage of
distribution resources typically set aside for larger
labels like Metal Blade, Relapse, etc. We also have the
option for bands to go totally independent through us,
leveraging our platform, while making their own personal
investments into their work (instead of allowing a label
to do it). The result is more cash in the pocket of the
artist instead of the label.
How do you partner with various labels and with other
services such as iTunes and eMusic?
Many of our label partnerships were born out of long
term relationships I cultivated in the past. Some of the
labels my own bands have worked with, such |
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as Agonia,
Displeased, Drakkar, etc. Our partnership with retail
vendors was cultivated through further extended friends
who have courted long term relationships with these
services, even before they were launched.
How long have you been in business and what made you
decide to pursue this alternative business model?
Metalhit launched in January 2008 and it was born out of
an idea my wife suggested! The general idea behind the
business was a low-risk approach while also being
profitable to offer a source of reliable revenue for
labels and bands.
Tell us a little about how you went about setting up
the business; what obstacles did you have to overcome?
Once the idea was in place, it was simply a matter of
pulling my resources together and adding some additional
creativity. The largest obstacle was convincing the “old
schoolers” that the digital medium was something to get
into. Some labels hesitated at first but later jumped on
board.
Do you feel that your company is grabbing a hold of a
fair share of the metal music market, and, if so, is
that share growing?
I’d say we have a cap on the underground black/death
metal movement. However, this is our concentration as
well. Collectively, our sales volume compares to the
likes of major labels, which helps bring us a leverage
these labels wouldn’t be able to accomplish
independently, so through the Metalhit consortium, we’re
able to take greater strides to help our group of bands
and labels. I’d say our share of the market continues to
grow. We are always expanding and moving forward with
our operation. Similarly, digital sales continue to
increase while physical sales continue to diminish, as
we suspect will be the case in the coming years.
One of the disadvantages of digital music is the
general lack of liner notes, lyrics, and other aspects
of physical products. Do you plan to offer these
features in the future, and do you feel that these
features are important to consumers? If so, will the
inclusion of these products cause a raise in prices?
We may offer some kind of multimedia with our albums in
the future. We will at least have the ability to
download high resolution cover art in coincidence with
purchasing an album. Time will tell when or if we
implement this. I do believe art is highly valuable to a
release, particularly for metal where image and
atmosphere play a large role. As a designer, I still
prefer art, CDs and especially vinyl. For this reason, I
think vinyl will outlast CDs because it still has
something unique to offer: a tangible quality product
with a slightly embellished sound.
As far as prices are concerned, it’s possible the
inclusion of intricate digital art or multimedia could
increase the cost of a digital product. Labels do have
to pay designers, after all! However, it will be
difficult for labels and vendors to implement this kind
of multimedia and charge for it once consumers have
become accustomed to buying albums at specific price
points. However, if it’s offered as an added boutique
service or item, then it’s certainly possible. iTunes
has already started offering digital liner notes for
labels that want to include this type of thing with
their digital albums. It’s a free addition as well.
Generally, what genres of metal are the majorities of
artists that are available on Metalhit.com?
I’d say the bulk of our catalog is made up of death and
black metal, followed by doom metal. We have other
styles as well, such as traditional heavy metal, power
metal, gothic metal, and a good plethora of folk and
pagan metal. We tend to stay away from metalcore and
other trends, but perhaps we’ll venture into those
mediums at some point.
What are the next steps for Metalhit.com?
Our next step is to complete the launch of our CD
distribution services for labels looking for smaller
scale representation (outside of higher risk retail
store chains). We’re also preparing to launch a series
of free digital compilations themed around various
categories of metal. Our first “Thrash Metal”
compilation comes out on September 7th as a free
download via Amazon.com and eMusic, as well as the
Metalhit.com store. It will be followed by several more
compilations being released each month. We’re also
investigating the possibility of involvement in bringing
a successful European metal magazine to print here in
the USA.
Thanks for the feature, Dave; we appreciate your support
and interest!
Thank you for your time! |
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As described, here’s a brief look at a number of albums
available on Metalhit.com.
Horna - Vihan Tiella
A live album from the very prolific Horna, Vihan Tiella
was recorded in Athens, Greece, in 2007. Surprisingly,
the recording is quite clean with a good mix, and all of
the instruments are clearly heard.
Blasphemy Rites - Hideous Lord
Hideous Lord is a corker of an album, as Poland’s
Blasphemy Rites are playing a stripped down version of
old school blackened death metal. If you can’t get
enough of bands such as Vasaeleth and Teitanblood, look
no further! Awesome stuff.
Resurrected - Fierce
Straightforward, well done brutal death metal from
Germany with the odd breakdown or two tossed in for good
measure.
Skogen - Vittra
From Sweden, Skogen play progressive and atmospheric
black metal. Harsh vocals, guitars with a dreamy touch,
and light keyboards typify the mid-paced approach.
Svart - Förlorad
Förlorad is a near drone album with amplified acoustical
guitar that periodically distorts, a sporadically
employed deep bass, and generally slow percussion. Not
bad, but the album suffers from an overly long running
time.
Andralls
A self-titled album from Andralls, a Brazilian thrash
band, that’s frenetic enough with lots of riffs, some
fluid soloing, and a decent production. No frills
thrash, reasonably well executed.
Svierg - Demo MMIX
A four-song, self released demo from Svierg, a gloomy,
one man black metal project from Virginia with cosmic
disasters as a lyrical theme (that will certainly get my
attention). Atmospheric with slight melodies, Demo MMIX
is successful at evoking a sense of grandeur, and
reminds me somewhat of Walknut.
SIG:AR:TYR - Godsaga
SIG:AR:TYR is a one man Canadian project playing rather
majestic folk metal. Unlike most of the popular, bouncy
bands in this genre, Godsaga from SIG:AR:TYR is slow
with blackened overtones. The sense of majesty is
enhanced by the simple, yet very effective, riffing, and
there’s some really good acoustical guitar work and
soloing. Godsaga is one of the best of the batch of
albums that I received from Metalhit.com.
Csejthe - Transcendence
Named after Countess Bathory’s castle in Slovakia,
Csejthe are a depressive black metal act from Canada
that are treading the low-fi regions of black metal.
Think of a combination of a more accessible, melodic
version of Profanatica with a bit of Xasthur tossed in,
and you’re pretty much on the mark. |
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LIK - Kapitel III: Lekamen
Illusionen Kallet
A four-song EP from the newly resurrected LIK, a one man
folk/ black metal project from Sweden, Kapitel III… is
characterized by sonorous, clean vocals and very sloppy
musicianship. Very often, the drumming drifts away from
the guitars, only to suddenly notice and attempt to
hurriedly keep up. The thin music, obviously quite
primitive and poorly played, does have a certain charm,
however.
Korgonthurus/ Musta Kappeli -
Split
Two rather droning black metal bands with plenty of
simple chords and atmosphere appear on this split, with
each band contributing one 17-minute long track. Once
again, fairly basic stuff, and I found Korgonthurus to
be the better of the two.
Ticket To Hell - Operation:
Crash Course
A two-man outfit from Quebec, Ticket To Hell are playing
catchy retro-thrash with galloping speed, the occasional
blast, and some good riffs. Harmless fun with a
pseudo-reference to Whiplash in the band name; at least,
that’s what immediately came to my mind.
Vitsaus - Sielunmessu
Extremely harsh, Burzum/ Darkthrone-influenced black
metal with a very dry, frigid production. Grim, cold,
and well worth $4.99 a pop.
Killing Addiction - Fall of the
Archetypes
The first of several death metal albums from the batch I
received from Metalhit.com that are released on the
well-established label Xtreem Music, Fall of the
Archetypes is an uneven release. At times insanely
catchy death metal, but the album tends to fall apart
with some really poor musicianship and inadequate
songwriting as you wade deeper.
Gorezone - Brutalities of
Modern Domination
Another band on Xtreem Music, Gorezone, from Germany,
are firmly straddling the line between grindcore and
brutal death metal with a raw sound; well done enough.
Winterwolf - Cycle of the
Werewolf
More from Xtreem Music, Winterwolf are a side project of
sorts from the well established Finnish death/ thrash
hybrid Deathchain. Winterwolf are a different beast,
though, as Cycle of the Werewolf is straight up Sunlight
Studios-era early Swedish death metal. The guitars are
there, but the drum production is a bit weak. Cycle of
the Werewolf will still kick your ass, though.
Afterword:
I must say that I was most impressed with the sheer
variety of albums that are available at Metalhit.com. A
few years back, I reviewed a batch of albums from the
service just as the business was getting off the ground.
At the time, I was not too impressed by what I heard,
but that has greatly changed. The quality of all of the
releases that I sampled was at least good, if not
excellent in a number of examples. Obviously, Mike
Riddick’s business has grown, and with this growth, a
huge jump in quality has occurred.
www.metalhit.com |
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