Copyright Law

Metallica Seeking Help from Pro-File-Sharing Trent Reznor?

By soulxtc

Looks forward to “sitting down and talking to him (Trent Reznor)” on tour, and also says “the primary — not the only, but the primary — function of a record label is to act as a bank.”

Judging from a recent interview with the LA Times, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich may have finally started to see the handwriting on the wall. As the music world went digital, Metallica was front and center denouncing file-sharing and the changing music landscape, angering music fans who couldn’t understand why multi-millionaire artists were the most vocal on the subject.

Last August it seemed Ulrich was starting to warm up to the idea of file-sharing and alternative forms of reaching Metallica’s fan base in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

‘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,” he said.

Metallica then goes on to stress its ?independence? by noting that its latest album, “Death Magnetic” is its last under contract with Warner Record, and that afterwards it intends to see how it can “embrace everything.?

Now Ulrich seemingly intends to make good on that promise by telling the LA Times that during Metallica’s upcoming European summer tour with NIN he plans on seeking frontman Trent Reznor’s advice.

“We’re doing a bunch of shows with Trent this summer in Europe,” he said. “I look forward to sitting down and talking to him about what’s on his radar.”

He also takes a jab at record labels, pointing out that they are little more than banks, and that the success of Metallica over the years means that it no longer needs them.

“Without offending any of the good people from the record company in the room, no,” Ulrich said. “Let’s cut to the chase. . . . The primary — not the only, but the primary — function of a record label is to act as a bank. When you’re fortunate enough to be successful and so on, you don’t need to rely on record companies as the banks.”

Let’s just hope he listens to what I’m sure will be excellent advice from Reznor. Techdirt’s Michael Masnick recently used him as case study for exactly how to succeed in today’s digital music age.

Connect With Fans (CwF) + Reason To Buy (RtB) = The Business Model ($$$$)

Trent Reznor has connected with fans (CwF) time and time again, having offered free album downloads, remixes, or even samples of an unreleased album.

Masnick noted that buying an album is a voluntary transaction, and that it?s nonsensical for artists to think to ?think that there is some sort of obligation to buy.?

The sooner Metallica realizes that the better.

Being that Ulrich, the original anti-P2P crusader himself, admitted to “illegally” downloading “Death Magnetic” a few weeks ago, perhaps he’s halfway there already.

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on March 25, 2009 (boomark / email).