http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/indepe ... quisition/

I know the article states that these are, for the time being, rumours, but if there is any truth behind them it's pretty alarming, to say the least. Usually when independent labels attempt to expand their market-base by collaborating with corporate giants like Universal Music it doesn't bode well for not only the bands signed to them, but also for the integrity of the genre in general.

Century Media have been making a pretty impressive comeback this decade by having shifted their focus back to the underground instead of almost exclusively doing so on their bigger, money-making bands (Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, the countless -core bands they seemed to have dropped over the years, etc... Even though the first two bands are arguably still their most successful to date). Not to mention all the fantastic reissues being released by them, thus exposing these old releases to a new generation of fans, which is always great.

However, this potential acquisition worries me, because these types of ventures never end well: Bands get more "exposure", but at the cost of their artistic freedom being significantly attenuated; pressures to maintain a certain sales volume; pressures to experiment with styles outside their genre/comfort zone in order to create some kind of crossover appeal; and the too-familiar-for-comfort scenario of them getting used and spit out in the worst ways when their relevance has diminished overtime, leaving the bands bitter and disillusioned with the scene and music in general, ala Celtic Frost and countless others. All these things could very well become a reality if Century Media will be operating under the heel of the industry's top conglomerates. Remember how a lot of this came true with Roadrunner, even before they became a subsidiary of Warner? If this were a mere distribution deal to make their titles more widely available, this wouldn't be a problem.

I hope this article has consolidated nothing more than hearsay and unfounded speculation. But if these rumours are true, then we can expect to see another once-respectable label go down the tragic path of others such as Roadrunner.