[darrenf]

> c) people who enjoy Death Metal enjoy the feeling of being in an elite club that's set apart from the faceless conformist masses.

I want the bands I love to be popular... but unpopular... but popular. It's aggravatingly paradoxical. Like, if I see a great band in front of 6 people including the bar staff I'm angry that there isn't a bigger audience; same band in a 1,000-strong venue (say) and I'm disappointed at the loss of intimacy; headlining Bloodstock and I'll be "FINALLY ten thousand people agree with me, about time".

[rolandog]

I like your observation on loss of intimacy.

I don't know if this properly translates to English, but in the Mexican metal scene (I don't know if this would generalize to other Spanish speaking regions) I've heard the term "comercial" used to describe when a band has gone mainstream, or "sold out"... It sometimes carries a similar connotation of being too popular.

[darrenf]

Yeah, I get the sold out/mainstream/commercial thing but that phrasing has always to me felt like a criticism of the band, when actually I'm resenting the presence of an increased number of fans - about which I should be feeling vindicated and smug.

[JackFr]

"I like their early stuff, before, you know, they sold out."