And about the history and ethics of Wikimetal"
By Daniel Dystyler
We created Wikimetal in January 2011.
I called Rafa and then Nando, who immediately agreed, and since then we have been on this difficult journey of defending Rock and Heavy Metal in our country.
Everything has gone very well these past 7 years.
Our audience continues to grow consistently and broke all records last month. Our team (we are now 11), our clients, our results, everything has grown in such a way that 2017 was our best year in every aspect.
We've been trying our best to avoid "shortcuts." We've discarded things that would easily bring pageviews, but have no real value. And this is a very difficult exercise that has to be monitored daily. Every moment, a temptation appears that, if we do it one way, will yield better results, but perhaps it's not the right way.
There are a million examples I could give, but just to stick to the most recent one:
This week, the vast majority of music outlets published the new Angra song featuring Sandy. This appeared on UOL and several other relevant music publications (most edited their posts after the band was forced to release a 1-minute teaser due to the illegal leak, or kept the post which now shows an embarrassing video that gives an error).
Wikimetal was one of the few outlets that didn't report the news. Not because we didn't know about the song, but because we knew how it was being promoted.
Certainly, we at Wikimetal have lost some views, but we continue building our path, without shortcuts, a more difficult and longer one.
Often, numbers alone cannot tell the whole story.
It's possible that Angra (who, by the way, invited us to the official listening session of the album before its release) and the highly competent people who handle the band's press relations might see Wikimetal differently because of our attitude. It's possible they won't.
Even if they don't realize it, at least I sleep soundly knowing I tried to do the right thing.
Last year, we created a humor section on the Wikimetal website called FakeMetal . The name itself says a lot about the idea of producing fictional news, so-called "Fake News," similar to a sensationalist website, but focusing exclusively on fictional news about Rock and Heavy Metal.
It's like that humor section that newspapers, magazines, or websites offer to provide a moment of relaxation and a few laughs in the middle of our busy day.
Last Thursday, FakeMetal made a post reporting the existence of the "I Don't Give a Damn About Carnival" , inviting people who don't like Carnival to participate by posting a photo of themselves sitting on a toilet making the Metal symbol with their hand. The following day, we announced that we would award the best photo with DVDs and CDs of Black Sabbath and Ozzy.
The post didn't say anything about who likes Carnival, much less criticize those who enjoy the festival. It didn't address the relevance of Carnival, which, while it mobilizes millions of people and boosts a part of the economy, also paralyzes the entire country for 3 days or more, brings numerous reports of sexual harassment, vandalism of public property, among countless other problems, especially in the capital cities.
Therefore, without getting into whether Carnival is actually good or not, the FakeMetal post (remember: the humor section that only posts fictional news) invited people who don't like Carnival to participate in the supposed campaign.
Ricardo Seelig from the Collector's Room website, whom I've never had the opportunity to meet, talk to, or even exchange messages with, posted on his social media:
"Another example of how the Brazilian metal scene is overrun by prejudiced forty-somethings who seem like spoiled children" (read more here )
"A joke that promotes prejudice against a popular festival that mobilizes millions of people across Brazil and is beautiful in many ways is not a joke, it's a lack of awareness" (read more here )
“I questioned the website about this disastrous idea, which seems to have come from the mind of an 8-year-old and not from one of the biggest Brazilian websites about heavy metal, run by adult men in their 40s” (read more here )
After reading what he posted, I became very confused about what we at Wikimetal (especially me) had done.
Whether I had actually crossed the wrong line or not. I always see myself as the "causal factor" in anything that happens and try to see what I could have done differently. So much so that I took the award off the air just to reduce the noise.
And despite taking away the award, I couldn't see where we were being "prejudiced or spoiled children." Furthermore, the term "forty-somethings" and the conclusion that "Wikimetal is run by adult men in their 40s" seems to me not only completely unnecessary but also extremely prejudiced, not to mention totally wrong, since although Nando, Rafa, and I are the founders, Wikimetal's content has always been created by people under 30.
Incidentally, all women. Since 2012.
Thank you (in chronological order) Julia, Erica, Iza, and Anna.
I found the reaction completely disproportionate. To call us prejudiced? To spread hate?
What? How ridiculous...
Countless times we have taken a stand (both online and offline) against sexism in the scene, against homophobia, against abuse, defending a diverse environment (both online and offline), and so on…
But regardless, I wondered whether it was worth responding or not, after all it's the opinion of someone I don't know, have never spoken to, who has never tried to talk to me, doesn't know Wikimetal and therefore clearly has no idea what they're talking about. On the other hand, these opinions generated quite a stir online.
Is it worth trying to clarify? Honestly, I don't know… If I were certain it would be worthwhile, instead of writing this text, I would have contacted him. But I doubt it's worth the effort.
From the bottom of my heart, I am immensely grateful for the various expressions of support on social media that clearly demonstrated an understanding of who we are and our history.
I'm unsure exactly how to conclude this text.
I think that more important than having a conclusion is the whole history of ethics, integrity, diversity, and inclusion that Wikimetal has been building.
Our results (and how we've achieved them) speak for themselves.
I would have loved it if our campaign had been criticized by someone relevant who funds Carnival (like Rede Globo) and who had been offended. That would have been more worthwhile.
And if, by chance, someone thinks that the campaign that would give away 2 DVDs + 1 CD of Black Sabbath and Ozzy for the most creative photo of someone sitting on a toilet making the Metal symbol was a cool thing… uhm… well… the Internet is free and you can post whatever you want, including a photo like that with the hashtag #I'mShittingAboutCarnival .
Who knows, maybe the prizes will show up at your house…