The biggest challenge to the survival of Metal music (amongst a glut of pop-culture fads) is that it is often relegated to the abyss of so-called "Underground" music. This means it does not get the exposure that other genres of music enjoy. Bands are not as readily promoted, so there's less incentive for them to continue playing Metal. This is especially true when attendance at Metal shows dwindles (often when usually non-Metal, mass-marketed groups are pushed at consumers).
With the Internet, this problem may be circumvented. (This counts for all "Underground" music, not only Metal!...) Now the low-cost visibility of a website offers bands a new way of promoting themselves. Also, we can send e-mails to our fans and friends, announcing the details of upcoming shows. For bands on a small budget, e-mail beats the cost and hassle of sending out paper in the post (and conserves physical and labor resources). Bands can even sell their CDs on-line.
Also, there's not the wasted effort of posting flyers in the area of your gig, only for them to be too quickly covered over or torn down because there are too many bands competing in the area.
Music sites such as mp3.com, blistering.com, riffage.com, and farmclub.com give bands another option. Metalheads who visit these sites can scan through heaps of information about their favorite music. This database would be impossible to find all in one place elsewhere (or worse yet: someone might charge money for it!). This gives bands another way to promote themselves and their music. The MPEG-3 audio files they post to these sites are free samples which can ignite people's interests in Metal music.
For example: "With the drastic change the music industry is going through at this time, we are trying to build a community of rockers who can share resources and help support each other! If you have a band, please feel free to REGISTER with Sound420.com." (quoted from the Sound420.com website)
Without this new medium of publicity, many Metal bands would still be in the dark, cast into eternal shadow by watered-down, bubble-gum "rock" stars pumped full of money by the juggernaut corporations that rule all the other forms of media (radio, TV, newspaper, magazines, books) in our so-called "modern" world.
So long as the Internet allows our freedom of speech, we keep corporate meddling outside the realm of true Metal music. Censorship and filtering (fixtures of fascistic "controls" dictated by money-hogs) being the antithesis of the World Wide Web, the Internet belongs to *everyone*. It gives all Metalheads a chance to tell all people about their Metal activities and lifestyle. This open communication helps to keep Metal alive and true.
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