Those are some interesting points, Baldadeath. There are those bootleg labels that profit off of someone's work without consulting the creators, and while some musicians are indifferent about it or are humbled that someone enjoyed the songs enough to go through the effort, I feel a certain amount of criticism for those labels that don't make the effort to do it right by members that can be reached. With this site, that I know of, no one is compensated for their efforts in sorting through the history of the genre besides those involved with the merch proceeds, and it's strictly a labor of love for those like us who find it important to have an all-in-one-place public reference that wasn't around when we were getting into this stuff, and while the music industry was going through its weird regressive phases during the '90s, at which point in my opinion a lot of people were misguided by crappy trends, and suffered by not knowing better than to drink from the shallow, rusty waters of what was readily available. At least from what I've observed, as soon as people didn't have to dig exhaustively to be aware of better music, a lot more people were suddenly fans if it, and nowadays that fact brings bands through nearby cities that I never expected to see live.
I often hear various complaints about the site, but to me for those that appreciate it, and seeing it develop into what it is now, speaking also through personal use of it, it's amazing, and the good far outweighs the points that I've heard brought up from the stances of criticism, or the exclusion of bands that I wish were present. Everything that becomes well-known carries with it the mumblings of onlookers who believe could have done it better, and sometimes can't see beyond their own perspective for the possibility of a greater good. There is always going to be a theme of meeting in a middle ground when something complex and involving many individuals exists, and it's a predictible clash given the often independent and stubborn nature of metal fans. It's really a matter of being willing to occasionally work outside of one's own personal preferences for an outcome that goes far beyond the means of what one mind could yield.
It is a matter of opinion, but to me it's a shame at those times that a closed door is presented when it comes to the documentation of what is our universal language, metal/music in one common place that can offer guidance through its many recesses that in a lifetime can't be fully explored. On the same token, it is awesome when bands and musicians make their contribution and a feeling of collaboration and mutual understanding is present. At the point that I recognized the site as a truly great reference in 2013 (early on there were a lot of missing bands and errors), I've gladly offered up everything that I could from my own learnings, locally to different areas that I've resided and from the years of tape trading, digging for enough necessary info to get the awesome bands that were familiar onto the site that weren't yet. I'm interested as much or more in pieces of raw knowledge/information now as I am in collecting. It's actually the writing of its history that will last beyond my existence here, while items in the personal collection will someday simply find a new owner.
To me it's a privilege to be able to easily hear and learn of bands from around the planet on this site, and no amount of naysaying would change my mind. Will continue to leave here what can be found despite the closed-off mentality that is held by some towards such efforts.