# Metal Music Is Indicative Of A Country's Economic Prosperity



## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

" Richard Florida of CityLab.com knows what's up when it comes to the correlation between the amount of metal bands a country has and how well-off they are. Florida published an article alongside his Martin Prosperity Institute colleague Charlotta Mellander, who is Swedish, delving deep into their research and citing other works such as Mark Ames' Black Metal Nation: What do Norwegian Dirtheads and Richard Perle Have in Common? and Florida's own research from two years ago where he noticed Scandinavian countries had a lot of metal bands (and now noticing how well they're doing financially).

The findings are simply put in one setence toward the end of Florida's research where he says "what we found is that that the number of heavy metal bands in a given country is associated with its wealth and affluence." A more elaborate explanation can be found below.

"At the country-level, the number of heavy metal bands per capita is positively associated with economic output per capita (.71); level of creativity (.71) and entrepreneurship (.66); share of adults that hold college degrees (.68); as well as overall levels of human development (.79), well-being, and satisfaction with life (.60).

The bottom line? Though metal may be the music of choice for some alienated working-class males, it enjoys its greatest popularity in the most advanced, most tolerant, and knowledge-based places in the world. Strange as it may seem, heavy metal springs not from the poisoned slag of alienation and despair but the loamy soil of post-industrial prosperity. This makes sense after all: while new musical forms may spring from disadvantaged, disgruntled, or marginalized groups, it is the most advanced and wealthy societies that have the media and entertainment companies that can propagate new sounds and genres, as well as the affluent young consumers with plenty of leisure time who can buy it."

Let's get metal, America! Our economy depends on it!"

http://www.metalinjection.net/lates...-indicative-of-a-countrys-economic-prosperity


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Is this just because Laos, Burundi, etc. don't have metal bands? I didn't read the piece (sorry). How does hip-hop correlate with wealth? I would guess it would all be positive.


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## Guest (May 29, 2014)

jani said:


> "At the country-level, the number of heavy metal bands per capita is positively associated with economic output per capita (.71); level of creativity (.71) and entrepreneurship (.66); share of adults that hold college degrees (.68); as well as overall levels of human development (.79), well-being, and satisfaction with life (.60).
> 
> The bottom line? Though metal may be the music of choice for some alienated working-class males, it enjoys its greatest popularity in the most advanced, most tolerant, and knowledge-based places in the world. Strange as it may seem, heavy metal springs not from the poisoned slag of alienation and despair but the loamy soil of post-industrial prosperity. This makes sense after all: while new musical forms may spring from disadvantaged, disgruntled, or marginalized groups, it is the most advanced and wealthy societies that have the media and entertainment companies that can propagate new sounds and genres, as well as the affluent young consumers with plenty of leisure time who can buy it."


It could just be that these are fertile conditions for the production of all kinds of industrialised entertainment, not just heavy metal bands. I don't see any causation being claimed.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

jani said:


> " Richard Florida of CityLab.com knows what's up when it comes to the correlation between the amount of metal bands a country has and how well-off they are. Florida published an article alongside his Martin Prosperity Institute colleague Charlotta Mellander, who is Swedish, delving deep into their research and citing other works such as Mark Ames' Black Metal Nation: What do Norwegian Dirtheads and Richard Perle Have in Common? and Florida's own research from two years ago where he noticed Scandinavian countries had a lot of metal bands (and now noticing how well they're doing financially).
> 
> The findings are simply put in one sentence toward the end of Florida's research where he says "what we found is that that the number of heavy metal bands in a given country is associated with its wealth and affluence." A more elaborate explanation can be found below.
> 
> ...


The bottom line is that in countries where youth have the economic circumstance (a luxury) and freedom of time from having to fully support themselves, many young people can afford to buy the necessary gear and invest the time to become a band. These are well-off nations, of which a number in the EU have a very high income and consumer tax which supports many a welfare subsidy, including some for young people still living at home.

In such a nation where many of the young people are supported by their parents, and / or social programs of the state which provide them security of a place to live and enough money to better than merely survive, the conditions are such that there exists also a large group of youth who have the disposable income to attend concerts and purchase recordings.

In this same picture of a set of conditions of general 'wealth,' a lot of pop music is readily made and consumed. This is not rocket science, and the phenomenon of what is made and consumed of the pop genres is not exclusively about the one genre of metal.

People will cherry-pick to see what they want to see. Whomever wrote the article is a fan of metal, and the emphasis on metal vs. all the other pop genres made and consumed is simple bias.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

The amount of high quality restaurants is indicative of a country's economic prosperity.

The amount of reliable infrastructure is indicative of a country's economic prosperity.

The amount of Mac computers per household is indicative of a country's economic prosperity.

The amount of orchestras per city is indicative of a country's economic prosperity.

ect...ect...ect...


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

violadude said:


> The amount of high quality restaurants is indicative of a country's economic prosperity.
> 
> The amount of reliable infrastructure is indicative of a country's economic prosperity.
> 
> ...


a-Yep! When any remnant of logic gets blown away by people's bias it is frightening!


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I just checked the Consumer Price Index, and it appears that the volume of heavy metal is increasing with inflation.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Blancrocher said:


> I just checked the Consumer Price Index, and it appears that the volume of heavy metal is increasing with inflation.


_Just print more Heavy Metal_

*"At the height of inflation, citizens needed a bushel basket full of of Heavy Metal to pay for a single loaf of bread."*


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## Guest (May 29, 2014)

Did someone seriously spend time collecting data to support the idea that "people with money can do stuff"? 

Up next, recent studies show that people are more likely to get wet when it rains.

Really though, I hope no one's paying these people...


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

arcaneholocaust said:


> Did someone seriously spend time collecting data to support the idea that "people with money can do stuff"?
> 
> Up next, recent studies show that people are more likely to get wet when it rains.
> 
> Really though, I hope no one's paying these people...


Me, I'm wondering if the article was found in a Heavy Metal Fanzine, its consumer base relatively affluent teens.

The article itself reveals a certain economic prosperity, either the authors having the luxury of time apart from making a living to write it, or their actually being paid for writing it


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

What a stupid article. My alternate nickname is 'Captain Obvious'.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

GreenMamba said:


> Is this just because Laos, Burundi, etc. don't have metal bands? I didn't read the piece (sorry). How does hip-hop correlate with wealth? I would guess it would all be positive.


Well, you need power and an electrical outlet in your hut if you want to play electric guitar with the amp


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## Lunasong (Mar 15, 2011)

Correlation does not indicated causation.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

arcaneholocaust said:


> Did someone seriously spend time collecting data to support the idea that "people with money can do stuff"?
> 
> Up next, recent studies show that people are more likely to get wet when it rains.
> 
> Really though, I hope no one's paying these people...


This is not even the stupidest thing, our goverment is gonna hire bunch of people to find out why we have started to buy more alcohol from Estonia. They have been raising the alcohol tax for a longtime and now its ridiculously high, Finland has lost lots of tax income because of it. After raising the alcohol tax ridiculously high they are "wondering" why people go to Estonia now more than ever to buy alcohol. They are gonna spend millions of euros of tax payers money to do it.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

jani said:


> This is not even the stupidest thing, our goverment is gonna hire bunch of people to find out why we have started to buy more alcohol from Estonia. They have been raising the alcohol tax for a longtime and now its ridiculously high, Finland has lost lots of tax income because of it. After raising the alcohol tax ridiculously high they are "wondering" why people go to Estonia now more than ever to buy alcohol. They are gonna spend millions of euros of tax payers money to do it.


LOL. One year, (end of the century, pre E.U) The Dutch Philips Company nearly went broke.

Many general household appliances, gadgets and tools made by the German company Braun (and a few others) including tariff and the Dutch V.A.T. -- which was one of the three highest V.A.T. rates in Europe at the time -- were priced below the equal or slightly less superior products of the Dutch company.

Philips knew this, but kept their prices _higher than the imported products._ *They actually assumed the Dutch, who already pay a high income tax and that very high V.A.T, who are one of the most money-conscious and frugal of peoples, would remain loyal to the Dutch company and be willing to pay more.*...:lol:

It sounds like what is called for in your country's situation, before money -- or any more money -- is spent on studies, is an ocean tide of letters to the newspapers, internet articles, saying basically, 
*It is the price, dummies!*


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I would put it in a slightly different way: the amount of a nation's creativie spirit (not only musical, but scientific, industrial etc) and overall cultural advancement corresponds positively both to its economic prosperity and to the amount of metal music. A people who know how to work, how to invent, how to apply themselves to any endeavor until they reach the desired degree of perfection, who have a tradition of doing all these things, will make both good money and good music.


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