This was something I wrote on the Metro forums ages back, but it pretty much applies here as well:
"I think a lot of it may be due to industrial's schizophrenic nature. After EBM and NIN, the industrial scene got into this weird area between electronic music and more traditional music, embracing aspects of both scenes but failing to really synthesize them.
Electronic music really isn't personality or live performance-driven. Sure, ravers might go out to see a particular trance or house DJ, but the level of interest for the personality is hardly the same as a rock concert. The focus of the scene is also more on the club and dancefloor than a show.
Industrial has this, but it also has the traditional mentality that you form a band and play shows, like in metal. The metal scene is more traditional. But it doesn't really have clubs, so it doesn't revolve around them. It revolves around live shows and bands.
Industrial exists in both, and I think that might impair its focus in many respects. Fans aren't really taught to care about live shows, yet live shows are still considered important for a project. No wonder it doesn't usually work.
This is probably as good a reason as any that, if you truly do consider your music industrial, you shouldn't be focused on the clubs. Hey, if they embrace it, awesome, but it shouldn't be the raison d'etre."
The "industrial is dying and crap" meme also seems much more pronounced in the industrial dance community. The industrial noise community seems to just do their thing, dub it to 50 cassettes, and not care that they are all unknown to the rest of the world.
Exactly.
