New interview says that they've been "observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor," and that for its next album fans can expect "everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet."It was back in 2000 that Metallica discovered a demo of its song "I Disappear," which was supposed to be released in combination with the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack, was receiving radio airplay. Tracing the source of the leak, the band found that the song was available on Napster, the long defunct P2P network. It also found that the band's entire catalogue was available as well. It was soon thereafter that it sued Napster for copyright infringement and became on of the most vocal critics of file-sharing. The lawsuit was settled in 2001, and under terms of the settlement, Napster agreed to identify and block access to files that artists do not want shared. It was their case against Napster that really made Metallica the face of file-sharing critics and really incensed a lot of people who couldn't understand how a band that had already made millions was concerned with making millions more. In any event, they seem to have come full circle these days with news that its fight was "never about downloading per se," and that it has been closely "...observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor." Say what? Perhaps sensing that the ubiquitous record store is a thing of the past, even conducting the interview with Rolling Stone at a "Record Store Day," an event designed to celebrate physical music retailers, in northern California, it has even decided to make digital music for sale. From the interview:
Metallica then goes on to stress its "independence" by noting that its latest album, due later this year and whose name I can't seem to find, is the last it has under contract with Warner Records. After this it will be "... looking at how we can embrace everything." "We want to be as free a players as possible," they continue in the interview."We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in twenty-seven years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet." So does this mean it now embraces file-sharing? It could be, and it could be that maybe, just maybe it was "...never about downloading per se" in the first place. I think what the honest truth is is that finally it realizes that CDs and cassettes are a thing of the past and that digital music is the format of the future. The real question for them is then how do you distribute and make money from it? With record companies and retailers like Apple taking a lion's share of the profits it's only natural to conclude that a business model like Radiohead's or Trent Reznor's is the way to go. I mean if you're only making 10 cents on the dollar for each track or album sold then couldn't you just as easily charge fans 10 cents per track or 1 dollar for an album and still come out ahead? It's not rocket science to make a profit here. Either way, welcome back Metallica it's been far too long, and I'm posting the video for "One" as a tribute. |
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Unbelievable!
I for one, would completely boycott these morons!
One of my favorite lines is "even Lars Ulrich knows it's wrong"
It just won't be the same knowing that its not how he feels anymore.
If you like their music no matter what they say or do you should still like the music.
Today i still listen to Metallica last CD and I still like it.
Metallica has educated their fans not to download music and turned away those who do.
The comeuppance is now. muffenme won't be downloading the next product from the web site. muffenme will be waiting for the release at a store that sells round shiny discs. Metallica will make less money and get less promotion and will become even more irrelevant.
F*CK Metallica.
Seriously, I recall them suing a wheel company because they named a model "The Metallica". I consider that to be sort of disheartening, but at the same time, I never really cared about their penchant for lawsuit abuse and douchebaggery. If the music was there.
The music hasn't been there for a LOOOOOOONG time.
I for one will not be downloading their music. In my opinion, they started to suck once they released Load or Reload, or whatever the name of that poor album was.
As for their change of mind on their views of digital downloads, I think they already did their damage and probably wont be getting a lot of support from digital downloaders. Their music may catch on again, but doubtful.