FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
In a swift and genius move, Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield have embarked on a journey to “set things right.”
“I woke up the other morning and just, you know, knew it was time to set things straight,” said Ulrich in an interview early this morning. I called up James [Hetfield] and we spent a couple of hours trying to find the list, knowing that it’s about time we apologized to our fans.”
Citing enlightenment as the cause of the project, Ulrich and Hetfield have realized that they were wrong to fight the technological revolution 8 years ago, when they printed out the names of every Napster user sharing their songs and sued the file-sharing software’s makers.
The duo are preparing to board their private airplane — sponsored by Myspace — this Thursday. The plane will be taking them around the world, allowing them to give a personal, heartfelt apology to each of the Napster-using Metallica fans… and maybe share a pint with their fans along the way.
“I really appreciate what they’re doing,” said James McWilliamson, an Irish fan of theirs who remembers the torment their actions put him through. “It was hard for me to listen to their music after the incident. I mean, knowing that they were condemning my decision to allow others to share in my love of their music really confused me. I’m glad they’ve seen the light that technology brings, and I can’t wait to see them on my porch. I think I might even hug them, but it will be the manliest hug known to man.”
Whether you love or hate their “music,” one thing is certain: Metallica’s leaders are finally embracing the power that new technologies are bringing to the table, and no longer resent their fans for wanting to spread the Metalli-camaraderie.
June 21, 2008 at 9:52 am |
As a long-time fan of Metallica what disturbed me most was how aggressive they were in going after copyright violators considering that their career was launched in good measure from word of mouth, tape trading, and fan loyalty. (Extreme in some cases, like fans turning their backs to the opening backs in the early days. They were there to see Metallica–not an opener!) Point being, one might be able to turn his or her back on one of the elements that made you famous but to piss on all three of those points at once is quite ballsy!
They are now trying to be more proactive (eg http://missionmetallica.com/) in terms of sharing/embracing new technology–but unfortunately it’s too late to get some fans back. Brand image is tough to repair in most cases and the Napster thing was quite the media spectacle. Though a solid new album could cure it all… but expectations are mixed.
June 21, 2008 at 10:52 am |
Thanks for the comment, Rob!
It’s exactly this new technology-driven approach (and the reaction to it) that inspired this post. After thinking about it for a few days, I was still laughing out loud — and mildly impressed — at the thought that they would dig up “the list” and single everyone out again… this time, though, for good.
June 22, 2008 at 4:22 pm |
Posted it to my recently-created facebook group because it was just so dang applicable. And also awesome.
Great post.