Internet Entrepreneurs Blog

Online reviews have the power to shape consumer spending and that has some folks worried, particularly those who sell sub-par products or work in stodgy, old-line industries. But rock bands? Most of these guys are embracing the internet and using the power of reviews and word of mouth marketing to their advantage.

But not Metallica. After alienating much of their fan base by suing fans suspected of trading illegal copies of songs through Napster and other file sharing services, the band is now demanding that bloggers remove early reviews of the band’s forthcoming album. And this comes after the band invited said bloggers to hear demos of some of the early songs!

Yes, online reviews have shifted some of the power from producers to consumers and added a layer of transparency to every market imaginable from knitting supplies to rock music. Most teenagers don’t go out and buy an album after hearing the first single on the radio - they head to Amazon first to see what the reviews say about the rest of the songs. Metallica should know by now that they can’t control what people are saying about their music - they should just concentrate on making the best album possible.

Besides, rock and roll has always been about giving the finger to the critics - not whining when they don’t say what you want.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 6:50 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.