Metallica Joins Spotify, Makes Peace With Napster

Metallica has made all nine of its studio albums, as well as various live material, singles, remixes and collaborations, available on the streaming service Spotify, according to Loudwire. The move is significant because Sean Parker, who co-founded Napster, now sits on the board of Spotify. Metallica waged a battle with Napster more than a decade ago over the illegal sharing of the band's music, which resulted in both legal action and a battered public image for the band.

At the press conference in New York announcing the Spotify deal on Thursday (December 6th), Parker and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich appeared together and seemingly buried the hatchet. Ulrich said, "When [Parker} and I saw each other a few months ago. We could see that we had been put down as adversaries. We realize we had much more in common and sitting down was long overdue . . . We were younger, maybe somewhat more ignorant. We sat down and had a heart to heart."

In a statement at its website, Metallica said, "We are extremely proud to be a part of Spotify, who not only has a proven track record, but is by far the best streaming service."
Metallica is now able to make these deals directly since, as of last week, the band has complete control over the master tapes of all its audio and video recordings. The band has also launched its own label, Blackened Recordings.

The first release for the new label will be the Quebec Magnetic DVD next Tuesday (December 10th), which showcases footage from two Quebec City live performances recorded in 2009.