The drummer explains that the problem wasn't money.
Created in 1999, Napster generated much controversy among artists, as it encouraged music piracy. Lars Ulrich, drummer of Metallica, was one of the biggest representatives in the fight against the software. Now, he explains the reason behind the band's decision to sue the company.
“We wrote this song for a Tom Cruise movie, 'Mission Impossible 2', called 'I Disappear'. We recorded it during a tour and were going to release it a year later. Then one day we got a call from Cliff [Burnstein, Metallica's co-manager] saying that 'I Disappear' was playing on more than 20 radio stations across the country, and we were like, 'How is that possible?' And then he explained that there was something called Napster.”
The drummer continues, explaining that they didn't understand how it all happened: "The music was locked in a vault somewhere ." Lars reveals that the big problem was the lack of communication between them and Napster, as no one from the company contacted the band to ask permission to use the music.
He concludes by saying, “We got caught in this storm and everyone was saying, ‘Metallica is very greedy,’ but it had nothing to do with money (…) We were caught off guard and didn’t know what to do. Since Napster means a lot to some people, we had to decide how to move forward.”
Today, both Lars and the band are at peace with all digital music services. He even reveals that Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and current investor in Spotify, is his best friend.
Metallica has just finished the first leg of their WorldWired and will return in February with a show in Portugal.
