This is a funny thought. But my guess is that if they were income-maximizers, they wouldn't be writing metal with "satanic" or "gore" content. Slayer certainly

This is a funny thought. But my guess is that if they were income-maximizers, they wouldn't be writing metal with "satanic" or "gore" content. Slayer certainly has been successful, and have built a nice consistent career. You can do well with niches. But by one statistic, album sales... well, they've never created an album that's gone platinum. (Stryper actually has once!) The "money" to "maximize" in music, if anything, is in pop. A large portion of pop these days is written by teams of people these days. I'm not sure how it goes down personally, but I can easily see conference calls coming up with the best love metaphors for a teen idol to croon. :)