This year continued to see huge shifts in marketing strategies industry wide, both on large production/distributors scale and the smaller indie labels. Several bands, some of which appear on this year's Horror Playlist Best Of, were significant engines to drive those changes, in how they decided to giveaway their new product, or how they packaged said product. But most importantly to their fans, both new and old, they each kept their styles and sounds intact, despite these changes in the music industry. The time is upon us that those changes, whether we want them or not, are changing the entire industry in good and bad ways. And if you can't see the writing on the wall, stop by your local record shop (if you can bloody well find one) and see what the shelves look like, see who has top billing in their sales.
Super bands have become a big thing in marketing trends (in fact our first selection on the list below is one of the most exciting super bands to come across the board in years).
The Smashing Pumpkins and NIN (aka Trent Reznor) have decided to give away their new albums, either in whole or a song at a time, in hopes of making new fans, who will in turn generate more revenue in ticket sales and outre merchandising, such as special editions and deluxe boxsets, or fan packages.
That's just a couple of shifts in marketing and acceptance that things have irrevocably changed.
One last telling aspect of our list is you will NOT find any new artists. Probably a really good reason for that.
What's important is the music. Below, are the albums we think were the best of 2010. Enjoy...
1. Black Country Communion- Black Country
2. Cradle of Filth- Darkly, Darkly, Venus, Aversa
3. Deftones- Diamond Eyes
4. Disturbed- Asylum
5. Gorillaz- Plastic Beach
6. Jimi Hendrix- Valleys of Neptune
7. Iron Maiden- The Last Frontier
8. Korn- III: Remember Who You Are
9. Massive Attack- Heligoland
10. Murderdolls- Women and Children Last
11. The Smashing Pumpkins- Teargarden by Kaleidyscope Vols 1 and 2 (and continuing throughout 2011)
12. Trent Reznor- The Social Network
13. Rob Zombie- Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool
--Nickolas Cook and Steven M. Duarte
