News

From major label deal to modern chaos: Mark Morton (Lamb of God) talks music industry evolution

Author Benedetta Baldin - 13.3.2026

Mark Morton, the guitarist for Lamb of God, was questioned in a recent interview with Premier Guitar about the changes in the music industry that he and his bandmates have witnessed in the thirty years since the group’s founding, specifically with regard to how people listen to music and how bands like Lamb of God make money, as per Blabbermouth.

We do so many things. A band at this level, we do a lot of things. We play shows. We tour and play concerts. We play a bunch of different kinds of concerts. We do our own tours, we play festivals, we play in different territories. We write and record music. We sell merchandise. So all of those are different activities in different parts of the business. And then there’s the business of being in the band, and then there’s the music, which is really the part that — that’s where the soul is. I mean, it’s a business, and you gotta make money and support your family. So what we do is a lot of different things, and those things have all changed independently of one another.

So touring looks different now than it did 10 years ago. And selling records or the way people consume music, that’s really been the biggest change. I’ve been around and in the business long enough where when we first started, we sold a lot of records, physical copies — CDs, really, at the time. And now less so. And the most physical copies you sell are LPs again. And streaming is, obviously, the way people consume most of the music. So all those terms change and the business changes. I think any business you’re in changes, though, really. I don’t think that’s necessarily specific or unique to the music industry. There’s probably very few industries that haven’t had to evolve and change, and you have to adapt to it. And that’s definitely the case with what we do.

When asked how Lamb of God‘s 2003 contract with major record company Epic impacted the band’s early financial viability, Mark responded as follows.

Well, we have made records early on that were on a shoestring [budget], for sure, and they sounded like they were. But that’s part of the journey. And certainly signing to a major label in 2003 and releasing the first major label record in 2004 was a big, big jump in terms of the resources we had to make the record. I was already doing music full time before we signed to a major — I think, more or less. It wasn’t like I signed to a major label and went into work the next day and quit my job. I was a roofer and I was kind of doing side work and stuff, just kind of hustling. But signing a contract like that and getting into the big league, so to speak, did take some pressure off of the finances and stuff. But I lived pretty humbly. And I just figured we’d be touring for a couple years and then eventually have to go back to some kind of day job, which it just didn’t work out that way

When asked if there was ever a time when he and the rest of Lamb of God felt too much pressure, whether it came from labels or fan expectations, Mark responded as follows.

The most pressure I ever felt from the point in which you’re coming, from the label and that kind of thing, it wasn’t from them; it was self-imposed. When we signed to Epic, we had just released the ‘As The Palaces Burn’ record. That record came out, and I think within —I don’t know the exact timeline, but I would think within five or six months we were talking actively to major labels, and there were several. So when we signed to Epic, of course they want their record: ‘Let’s go. Let’s make a record.’ And we hadn’t really toured a lot on the ‘As The Palaces Burn’ record. And, more importantly, we were kind of creatively squeezed out. We had just put all our best stuff into this record. Then we got signed off of it, and now they want a record right away. So I remember, for me personally, feeling the pressure of, like, this is probably the most important, business-wise, creatively, moment. And I’m, like, ‘I don’t have any material. What am I gonna do?’ So I was really, wrestling with my own kind of confidence in what I was bringing to the table. But it all worked out.

Upcoming shows:

March 17 National Harbor, MD The Theater MGM National Harbor
March 19 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
March 20 Toronto, ON GCT Theatre
March 22 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
March 24 Minneapolis, MN Armory
March 25 Chicago, IL Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
March 27 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
March 28 Salt Lake City, UT The Union Event Center
March 30 Portland, OR Theater of the Clouds
March 31 Seattle, WA WAMU Theater
April 1 Vancouver, BC PNE Forum
April 3 San Francisco, CA The Masonic
April 4 Inglewood, CA YouTube Theater
April 5 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
April 7 Albuquerque, NM Revel Entertainment Center
April 10 Austin, TX Moody Amphitheater
April 11 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
April 12 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
April 14 Nashville, TN War Memorial Auditorium
April 15 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
April 16 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
April 18 Reading, PA Santander Arena
April 19 Virginia Beach, VA The Dome
April 21 Buffalo, NY Buffalo RiverWorks
April 23 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Paramount
April 25 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
April 26 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway
May 9 Daytona Beach, FL Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
May 17 Dayton, OH Welcome to Rockville
May 20 San Juan, PR Coliseo de Puerto Rico
Friday, July 24, 2026 – Istanbul, Turkey – Bonus Parkorman
Saturday, July 25, 2026 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Hills of Rock
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 – Râșnov, Romania – Rockstadt Extreme Fest
Saturday, August 1, 2026 – Wacken, Germany – Wacken Open Air
Monday, August 3, 2026 – Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 – Lisbon, Portugal – Vagos Open Air
Friday, August 7, 2026 – Walton‑on‑Trent, United Kingdom – Bloodstock Open Air
Sunday, August 9, 2026 – Kortrijk, Belgium – Alcatraz Open Air
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 – Copenhagen, Denmark – K.B. Hallen
Thursday, August 13, 2026 – Sulingen, Germany – Reload Festival
Friday, August 14, 2026 – Dinkelsbühl, Germany – Summer Breeze
Saturday, August 15, 2026 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Dynamo Metalfest
October 30 – November 3 Miami, FL Headbangers Boat