The real reason Metallica had a beef with Napster

[Edward Yawn]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate for just a minute - let's leave Metallica out of the picture for this one.

We live in an age where some of the most influential bands couldn't get even a piss-poor record contract because the "suits" in the Big Five labels wouldn't be able to see how such bands could turn a massive profit in one album. Artists like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Frank Zappa would never have been able to get off the ground if the 2005-era music industry were around in the late '60s/early '70s.

We live in an age where we are force-fed the next pre-packaged crap circa "American Idol," and artists are treated as commodities, while bands who put out real music are often left languishing either as bar bands or on tiny labels who believe in the music but don't have the mega-bucks to shell out to get the music on Clear Channel/Infinity radio stations.

Look at it this way: William Hung, that no-talent "American Idol" reject hack, not only has a fucking recording contract, but has put out three albums. Makes me want to stick my head in the oven.

My whole point: the industry was too quick to blame innovations such as file-sharing for killing an industry that they had performed an O.J. Simpson on themselves. It's just easier to affix blame (aka file-sharing) than try to fix what may well be broken beyond repair.

Okay, my two minutes is up now. Cue the theme music: Coo, loo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-cooooooo!

Even I have to admit that was an excellent post!

 

[Catharsis70]

Listen, I'll make this short:

99% of all posts, hell, ANY comments saying that "Metallica Sucks" are stupid, lame, and never go anywhere. They just say "Load!", "Reload!", or "St. Anger!" to prove their point, and they never realize how dumb it sounds. The band had the balls to do what they wanted WHEN they wanted with their sound.

QUOTE]

and yet we bash the band whos forum we are on for stomp and volume 8 (volume 8 is my fave thrax and not you directly luvataciousSkull) and it is not the same? Ok so maybe bashing them at the Metallica forum would be better or whatever.....
Yes I am back. Said I was done a while back and came back. What a forum cliche bitch whining little turd I am. Whatcha gonna do......Being an asshole and being a self proclaimed asshole are two entirely different things. My opinion on Metallica is that anything after "And Justice For All" is not to my liking. Not saying its crap, sell out, commercial etc.... just saying I dont care for it..Kind of like what is going on with Thrax right now. Bands change direction. It isnt a personal insult or a fuck you to the fans. Its a choice made between people that have an intimate relationship. Be it love, hate, or mere tolerance and it is made for them by them and I am pretty sure in *most* cases they dont give a second thought to the fans.....

 

[spitzs lazy eye]

An old article by Maddox from April 2002 but still a good read:

"Everyone agrees that Metallica's last two albums were dog shit. Even Metallica indirectly admit to it during an interview when they said something to the effect of "our last two albums were shit straight from a dog's ass." In fact, everything the music industry has barfed up lately has been hokey, cookie-cutter, tired, disingenuous garbage. Music on the radio these days can best be summed up as aural pollution.

So while I was watching a movie preview that was saturated with music propaganda the other day, I wondered why Metallica's slide in record sales and popularity coincided with their much publicized attack on Napster. Does it have anything to do with the fact that their albums just plain suck and it's a convenient excuse for them to blame this slump on internet file sharing? Is it a coincidence that the music industry's unrelenting streak of crappy music comes at a time of extremely poor record sales?

Is internet radio to blame, or dumbass executives at Virgin Records signing Mariah Carey for $80 million in 2001, only to give her an extra $28 million to leave just a year later? Why don't they spend that money on innovating rather than trying to sell the crap that's already out there? I'll tell you why. Because they have their heads so far up their asses that they need to have it pried free with a jack hammer." - Maddox

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=metallica

Please, no more Metallica or prison shower threads from you.

 

[Spreadingthe Living312]

lol @ all you serious faggots getting emotional at this guys typing. Just dont reply if you dont want him to spam.

Edward Yawn, thank you for supplying us with comedy.

 

[abrasiverock]

There is more to it than the industry being only into 'artists' that can give them instant profit. That happened because of something much bigger. The 90's. In the 90's two things happened at the same time. First off, CDs. You had this hot new thing called cds and everyone had to re-buy all their music to have it on cd. Suddenly you had sales of Stephenwolf, The Beatles, & even Abba because the boomers had to have the music from their time on this new format. This was at the same time as rock went back to a more ‘garage’ style that the boomers liked. So you had parents and their kids buying the new music. All of this made overall sales of cd’s go insane. Once everyone had their cd of The White Album, they didn’t need to buy it again. Soon after this the trends went to Rapcore, metalcore, whiny emo bands, and other stuff that the baby boomers couldn’t care less about. So you had sales from both older music and the latest hot thing go down. This created a situation where the music industry had sales go down far enough that people with ten years in the industry lost their jobs. The ones left feared for their jobs and thus started looking for bands that would get a more instant pay off. Artist development was something that would not save their job.

 

[karrokid]

i'm sorry but my parents are baby boomers and they didn't buy any garage band type music in the 90's nor did anyone else's baby boomer parents that i know. they did buy their stones and steppen wolf stuff but, i don't think their 8-tracks would still be playing today. it all comes down to pre-packaged shit that sells soda cans, posters, ring tones, check out counter magazines and video games.the big companies along with mtv have dumbed down the new music buying public so much that they need to be told what to buy and where to buy it. you would think with so much stuff available on the net kids would use their brains and search out something that is not so main stream. but they'd rather but the new 50 cent disc, go see the movie and play the video game. a typical example of an artist(if you can call him that) that is making a million by sucking and, if your sitting there thinking his music aint that bad thats because you're just another cog in the wheel buddy. pre-packaged pop, rock, punk whatever you like they got a corporate shitstain band for you to run to hot topics and buy the shirt. when all of the old gaurd dies off so will the musicians who have made a career out of putting out great albums. then the real takeover will begin and all that will be left is zombie kids buying what ever is being force fed to them that week.

 

[Cyclonus]

Edward Yawn, please stop trying.

Thankyou.

 

[Edward Yawn]

Edward Yawn, please stop trying.

I will contine trying. I refuse to stop trying.

 

[Edward Yawn]

Edward Yawn, thank you for supplying us with comedy.

You are not welcome.

 

[dailyvault]

Abrasiverock, what you say does indeed have some merit. But, some blame still has to go to the industry. I remember buying a copy of Ozzy Osbourne's The Ultimate Sin - the third CD I ever owned - and wondering why I had to pay $17 for it. I was told the price would eventually be the same as a normal record album, because this was new technology. This never happened - the list price for a CD today is $18.99. I've said for years now, if the music industry wants to get people back buying CDs, one of the things they need to do (other than stop the fucking lawsuits - is to lower the list price of CDs to about $11.99 for a single disc. (That would probably equal a sale price of $8.99 for a new release at stores like Best Buy.)

Plus - CDs aren't the end-all technology that we all want them to be. (To be fair, neither are MP3 files - shit gets corrupted, hard drives crash, CD-Rs get destroyed by kids, etc.) Discs can get damaged, stolen, what have you... just like a record or cassette. But where it used to cost $5 to $10 to replace a record or cassette, it costs - minimally - $10 to up to $20 (for the "remastered" or "bonus tracks") replacement CD.

 

[metal_thrashing_kansan]

why does everyone like to bash Metallica? So what they are popular. Music, METAL music is not a popularity contest. So what they make questionable decisions. So what they are parents. So fucking what. But that is just my opinion, and opinions are like ass holes. Everyone has one, and they all sink. I can say this about napster, if I was in a band making any money at all, and it was proven that internet sharing meant I would not be eating or surviving, yeah I would be pissed too. The internet is evil. Hence there is a hell.com but not a heaven.com!!

 

[metal_thrashing_kansan]

ok I messed up. Opinions are like ass holes. Everyone has one, and they all stink. Damned type-o's anyway

 

[karrokid]

Damned type-o's anyway

what's this a type o bashing thread now. pete will come and rip your head off your neck.

 

[Spreadingthe Living312]

You are not welcome.

 

[Edward Yawn]

Music, METAL music is not a popularity contest.

Wrong. It has always been a popularity contest and always will be. Ever since the beginning of metal, bands have been competing to make the heaviest and most brutal album. Remember: heavy metal is all about being raw, heavy and brutal. Melody takes second priority.

 

[Carcassian]

Wrong. It has always been a popularity contest and always will be. Ever since the beginning of metal, bands have been competing to make the heaviest and most brutal album. Remember: heavy metal is all about being raw, heavy and brutal. Melody takes second priority.

Unless you are a melodic death metal band. The melodies usually come first for them: hence the title of the genre.

 

[Spreadingthe Living312]

To end this debate, Sodom is the heaviest band ever. No one can play heavier than them.

 

[MyHatred]

To end this debate, Sodom is the heaviest band ever. No one can play heavier than them.

That's funny Sodom, the heaviest band EVER You have much to learn young Jedi.