The self-proclaimed "Prince of Darkness" has a soul after all. Earlier this year, Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon announced that admission would be free of charge to Ozzfest, an 11 year-old melee of metal madness. The change is quite a show of generosity, as last year's festival tickets were as pricey as $125 a pop. Earlier this week the official festival website provided detailed instructions for procuring these free passes.

Currently, the only headlining artists who have signed up for the tour (and will not be compensated for their time or efforts) are Lamb of God, Hatebreed, and Lordi (three of my favorites, right after Hanson, Billy Joel, and Duran Duran!) An article in today's Fortune briefly explores the ramifications behind Osbourn's "free" offering, asking "why would a headliner perform for nothing?" Ozzy's lovely wife Sharon argues that the festival provides a captive audience, some of whom will buy pricey merchandise and some of whom will be converted into new fans, with the power to buy CDs down the road.

Even though it should be all about the music, the fans, and the devil-horned hand gestures, the lineup is conspicuously different. Last year's Ozzfest featured such high-profile names as System of a Down and Disturbed; previous years have offered performances from Velvet Revolver, Slipknot, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Tool, and Black Sabbath. One has to wonder how the audience turnout will be for this free show of lesser-known artists. If Lamb of God sings "Walk With Me In Hell" but no one pays to hear it, is it really a concert?

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.