Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Last Month's Poll Results & This Month's Poll!!

In today's post, we're closing down last month's poll on the site and launching our newest one, as it is the 18th of the month! As you may remember, last month's poll asked this question: What is most needed to improve the Sault Michigan-area metal/hard rock scene? Only 9 votes, but our Sault Michigan-centric polls have generally received low vote totals compared to ones that have a Sault Ontario component, so while the total's disappointing, I'm not overly surprised. That said, who voted for what? The final results are below!

I don't actively follow Sault Michigan bands/concerts (4 votes, 45%)
More support/commitment (2 votes, 22%)
More active venues (1 vote, 11%)
More bands (1 vote, 11%)
More concerts (1 vote, 11%) 
More out of town bands (0 votes)
The scene's cyclical and will improve soon (0 votes)
Sault Michigan's scene is fine the way it is (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Honestly, I can't analyze too much of the results because A. The winning result was from people who don't follow bands & shows across the river, and B. The ones who voted for other choices did so in a very spread out fashion, with only "More support/commitment" garnering multiple votes. If anything, the results show that there isn't one glaring problem, but a lot of things that could be adjusted. Sault Michigan news has been ramping up a bit lately, with a few newer bands launching and LemmaFest coming up this weekend, so hopefully things continue on the up & up for the foreseeable future, so we don't have to ask this question down the road! Thanks to everyone for voting, and go occupy a venue in the E.U.P.!

With that said, what's this month's poll topic at the SMS? Album releases, though not an excuse to compare individual ones. Of late, we've seen a spike in metal/hard rock album releases from local bands, including new albums from Destroilet, Haggith, SweetKenny, Late & Loud, Mike Haggith, and Crimson Crusade in 2013 (and that doesn't even count the Woods of Ypres tribute album or the assorted handmade demos from Blood Shed Productions), with more announced or in progress on both sides of the border. This is definitely encouraging, but does it reflect a need from local metalheads and music fans? As such, I'm posing this question to you guys this month: Should more local metal/hard rock bands release albums for sale? Simple enough question, as I am curious to see if the recent larger market of album releases is good, only partially useful, too much, or not enough. I personally feel that the more, the merrier, but I wanna see a larger sample, so here are this month's poll choices!

Yes, they all should: Do you think that all or most local metal/hard rock bands should release at least one album of their material? Many prominent and lower key ones have in some form, but a number of prominent bands have came and went without any, or never completed recording sessions or post production on an intended album. Should more bands make the effort to put out a finished CD or album of their songs?

Only if they're ready and have enough material:
While album releases are up right now locally, the recording quality does vary, and some bands in the area have released professional looking albums that lacked in the audio department, and vice versa. Others have the talent, but not the preparedness or amount of originals to fill up even an EP. Should bands not rush and wait until they have everything they need to record an album?

Only for certain bands that I like: I really doubt most readers like every local metal band, and by the same extension, many will only care about or buy CDs & album from bands that they enjoy already. Should more of your favourite local bands release albums, with others not on your radar, or are you indifferent to the idea in general?

Only if they're available for digital download: There is a segment of music fans out there who think that physical media is dying for album releases, and that digital mp3 downloads and iTunes-esque services are the wave of the future. I'm a supporter of physical albums and think there will always be a place for them, but are you among the people who will only buy new local metal albums digitally if offered?

I'd rather get free songs/CDs: We all like free stuff, but are you among the people who would prefer that all local music was free? Maybe you don't wanna pay to hear your favourite bands, or just can't afford to buy albums? I think we all should buy albums if we enjoy the band so we can support them, but if you're against buying local music (whether intentionally or by necessity), vote here!

I prefer live concerts to studio recordings:
I do know a few people that would much rather see a band live and be immersed in the concert experience than buy a studio album, and I'll concede that some bands (without naming names) do have a looser and more fun sound when they play live gigs compared to what they released on CD. Are you among the group of local metalheads that would much rather embrace the live atmosphere and retain those memories then to have the studio tracks?

VOTE TODAY!!! You have until July 18th to cast your votes, so do so in the poll field on the right side of the page, and hopefully we'll get a good voting sample this month! That's all for now, but stay tuned for some big Sault Michigan news and weekend concert previews soon, and much more on the Sault Ontario side too! Thanks everyone!

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