I noticed that Metallica has been added.
I hadn’t heard anything about these long-term digital music hold outs joining the masses so I can only assume that this quiet, unassuming addition has to do with the band still paying for that terrible lawsuit-against-their-fans a few years back.
I just have a question. I have enjoyed Metallica over the years. I even enjoyed the doc “Some Kind of Monster.” which made me revisit their last album St. Anger. And they are even slated to appear on the season preimeire of the Simpsons this fall. But I beg the question…
Is (Can) Metallica still be relevant?
Update
iLounge just posted about the Metallica add. Here is what they had to say:
Long-time digital music holdouts Metallica are now selling their entire back catalog on the iTunes Music Store. Apple is currently offering 10 albums, from the band’s debut “Kill ‘Em All” to 2004’s “Some Kind of Monster” EP. Previously unreleased live tracks have also been added to each of the first four albums as iTunes bonuses.
“Over the last year or so, we have seen an ever-growing number of Metallica fans using online sites like iTunes to get their music,” the band says on their official website. “So, in continuing with the tradition of offering our albums for sale online (which we’ve been doing for a few years through various sites), as well as making our live concerts available for download in their entirety (through the livemetallica.com site), we are now offering fans the opportunity to obtain our songs individually.”
Let me interpret Metallica’s press release for you: Nobody is buying our stuff at these other sites because nobody uses these other sites. Please buy our stuff. We’re sorry that Lars is an idiot. Please fans, come back to us. Please!!!! We’re still relevant. Aren’t we?
I will always think of Metallica as a band I listened to while I was in high school and rarely since then. But the truth of this post is in your interpretation of the press release. They are realizing how many fans (and potential fans) they have ticked off (or Lars has ticked off, as the case may be), and their fan base is aging and an aging fan base buys less music…
Thief-
Welcome!!!
I think you said it perfectly when you said that you see Metallica is a band that you listened to in HS. Their time is quickly passing and this is a desperate attempt to grasp at the old fan but will do very little at bringing them new fans. New music not new technology brings new fans. Thanks for your comment.