Metallica to release album early to thwart pirates

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

Metallica to release album early to thwart pirates

By GEOFF BOUCHER

Los Angeles Times

 

Metallica's new album St. Anger will be released Thursday, five days earlier than previously scheduled, in a maneuver meant to defuse the effects of piracy.

 

The highly anticipated album from the metal music veterans is already circulating on the Internet, prompting the band and its label, Elektra Records, to abruptly move up the timetable. The tactic is not unprecedented -- album releases by Eminem and 50 Cent have been hurried to stores for the same reason -- but Metallica is an especially tempting target for online music mavens because of the band's public clashes with Napster and the file-sharing communities.

 

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich became the most famous face in the anti-Napster campaigns that came to define the music-for-free controversy. As a result, Metallica and its camp have zealously guarded the St. Anger music, the band's first studio album in six years. At the band's San Rafael, Calif., headquarters, all session discs were even labeled with the fictitious band name Green Cup to mask their contents in case they were lost.

 

In another sign of the digital times, Columbia Records has also moved up the release date of the solo debut by Destiny's Child member Beyonc Knowles. The album will now be out June 24 instead of July 8, a change that label officials said was made in part to thwart piracy.

 

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I can't see where this will do any good at all, as the people who want to buy will buy it anyway and those that don't won't. I guess Lars just can't stop making an ass of himself.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Idiots. Even if they successfully hid the music until the first day of release, all that does is guarantee the first day puchases. All those people are gonna go home, rip the cd, and whamo, let the downloading begin.

[Guest HellSpawn]

There are people who still want to listen more crap from Lars and company?

 

I mean, Loaded was, well, Loaded of crap.

 

Re-Loaded, same history.

 

Garage Re-Visited? OK, that was good, but barely good.

Edited June 5, 2003 by HellSpawn