That is true, but Metallica are Metallica. They have the money and fanbase to take those kind of risks.
Personally, if i've written a song im really proud of, I dont want it played months before release on a shitty PC speaker on a youtube video for 4 seconds. I'd want proper justice done to it by it being heard in full context of the entire album, on cd. We don't just write the music, we make sure the order of songs make sense, and that the packaging is the best it can be to compliment the music, that the production is the best it can be, and that the fans get as much out of it as possible. Not some shitty youtube video that basically cuts out all of the above.
I still stand by my belief that you can't beat going to a store, buying an album, holding it in your hands and hearing it fully for the first time. not fucking mp3s. I dread the day music becomes online only. Fuck that.