ABSTRACT
In an Internet survey, conducted by a net-based t-shirt distributor, metal bands accounted for the overall most popular t-shirt across all genres as well as fi ve of the six most popular t-shirts in the metal/rock category (Recordstore 2004; Barnes 2004: 9).2 Consistent with key elements of my own research, the survey illustrates both the importance of the band t-shirt to the youth culture that surrounds metal music, and the strong consumer demand for commercially produced metal-style t-shirts (not least because more metal t-shirt customers responded than any other type of music fan). These two elements are central to the argument presented in this chapter: that the metal t-shirt is a commercially manufactured and distributed item of clothing that is also high in subcultural value.
