Lacuna Coil singer Andrea Ferro says the challenges facing bands in today's world of short attention spans is making it harder for artists to make an impact – but he believes metal and rock bands are going a great job of maintaining high standards in their work.
The Italian vocalist discusses the differences facing musicians today compared to when Lacuna Coil were starting to make their name in the 1990s in a new interview with Rock Hard Greece.
He says that grabbing and holding people's attention gets harder all the time. But in his view, metal still sounds great compared to a lot of other genres where quality is sacrificed for quick wins,
Ferro says: "The system of how you find out about bands, how you sell the records or the music has changed completely.
"When we started, it was still the magazines and then the little bit from the TV, a little bit from the radio and the webzine. And nowadays these things don't exist. Nowadays it's all about the social media.
"Some magazine are still surviving, but it's also harder for them. People want to read the news the minute they come out. They don't have any patience anymore to go in the store and buy the mag.
"I love to go in the bookstore and buy the magazine and then read it at home. But now that doesn't exist anymore.
"Everything is way faster and shorter, and the attention span of the people is way less. So you can be a very famous band very quickly, but you can also disappear with the same quickness, because people have always want something new, something fast, and it's very hard to get their attention for more than a minute.
"I think rock and metal is one of the few genres that has kept a certain quality. Different maybe, but still quality all along, compared to other musical styles."
Ferro is grateful to have come onto the scene with Lacuna Coil when the process set them up for longevity rather than instant success.
He adds: "We're lucky that we grew up in a different time, and we made the most of our fanbase in times where you could still go door by door and tour every city and open for this band and that band and convince everybody through playing every show – so in the classic way.
"I think nowadays it's way easier and faster but also way more complicated to build something solid that is gonna last."
Lacuna Coil have a number of festival dates coming up in 2026 and a string of shows planned for 2027.
