This article is more than 1 year old

Metallica sticksman gloats over Napster downfall

Happy as a 'greedy rock pig' in mud

Metallica drummer and pro-copyright mouthpiece Lars Ulrich is "proud" he helped wipe out internet file-sharing site Napster.

Speaking to Kerrang! magazine, Ulrich added he wasn't wallowing in "glory" following his band's crucial role in the downfall of Napster.

Metallica infamously took legal action against the website in July 2000 after it made the rock group's back catalogue available free online.

The heavy metal sticksman insisted in the latest issue of the rock and metal bible that Metallica had done the right thing in helping bring down Napster.

"Being right about Napster doesn't mean that much to me. I don't find any particular glory in being proved right about it," he told Kerrang!

"You have to give props to the other side because they did run a brilliant campaign, and they did portray me and Metallica as being greedy rock pigs and luddites who were completely behind what was happening technologically. But I am proud of what we did, and what we stood up for."

The BPI's Geoff Taylor however, confessed last month to having a few regrets about the demise of Napster.

"Napster understood the internet's potential for decentralised music distribution, and offered it to consumers in a way that was simple to understand and use," he wrote in June.

"Many critics have argued that the music industry could have avoided some of the problems it faces today if we had embraced Napster rather than fighting it. That's probably true, and I, for one, regret that we weren't faster in figuring out how to create a sustainable model for music on the internet."

Earlier this year Ulrich admitted to illegally downloading his band's latest album from a BitTorrent tracker site in order to "test" how the process worked, and perhaps attempt to shake off the "luddite" tag as well. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like