Metallica is known for two things. One: being one of the world’s biggest bands and two: Being the guys who sued Napster.
The problem with the PR fiasco that was the Napster lawsuit was that Metallica got way more shit for it than they deserved. While all the ‘selling out’ criticism is based on a lot of truth, the whole ‘Metallica sued their fans’ crap is just nonsense. There’s nothing worse than being accused of things you never did, and that’s exactly what Metallica got out of that whole ordeal, which begs the question: Was it worth it? — Personally, I don’t think so.
Lars did a Reddit IAmA recently and a lot of questions and trolling posts revolved around Napster, suing fans, etc… Lars did his best to be upfront and honest about it, but it didn’t help. 14 years later, a lot of people still think Metallica sued their fans, which means they’ll never escape that stupid lie. They’ll always be labeled by some as the guys who will sue you if you don’t buy their shit. It’s not exactly true though…
Which brings me to today’s point. Metallica actually did something nice for a few fans which goes against the whole ‘suing’ thing, and nobody really noticed it. Nobody ever will. People only notice when celebrities fuck up. It makes them feel better about themselves. When they do nice things, nobody gives a shit.
An Italian YouTube channel called Milanica is known for uploading various Metallica bootlegs and live clips. It has tons of views and tons of subscribers, and a few days ago it got shut down by YouTube.
What did Metallica do? They fixed it. And they contacted the guys to tell them they fixed it. I think that’s pretty nice. It’s something they didn’t have to do, but they did. Why doesn’t that get out? Why doesn’t that generate rumors? Because nobody cares if a musician does something nice.
People like to point fingers, judge, laugh, and basically pat themselves on the back. And while that’s essentially exactly what I’m doing on Dose Of Metal, I’m just realizing that I’m no better than any of you. FUCK!
