Comments on: Is Reznor a digital-music visionary? Ask Lars Ulrich

Metallica's drummer and onetime Napster basher says he wants to pick Reznor's brain about the band maybe leaving its music label. Wait, doesn't he hate tech?

[dascha1]

Why don't you ask Bowie (pronounced as b'ow-ee by my son).

http://www.audioscribbler.co.uk/features/6149

As I understand it, written by the daughter of a digital media pioneer who built one of the first on-demand prototypes.

[blppt]

Lars should concentrate on learning how to play instead of worrying about who helps him get his next paycheck.

[cahomsy]

Being a fan of NIN for over ten years now all I can say is that as long as Mr. Reznor continues doing what he is doing he will have a fan for life. His recent release to his fans of the NIN|JA and Street Sweeper tour sampler and offering tickets before they go on sale at Tickethief, which usually adds another fifty percent or more to a ticket depending on the act they are trying to push, was the last nail in the coffin. No more Tickethief. No more RIAA. No more Best buy, or any other retailer, for a hard copy of anything that can be had online.

[oldguytoo]

So....you don't want to have to pay for anything, right?
If they were able to download food, you'd want it free.
I am a fan of NIN too - Trent is from my home state and I saw him before there was a NIN.
If he hadn't had a record deal then, he wouldn't be a pimple on a baboon's butt now.
Technology developed before standards, to avoid abuse of the technology, were thought of.
So now all the geeks thinks that makes it right to get all things digital for free.
You must be Socialists. Please move to North Korea.

[screamapillar]

I agree cahomsy - kudos to Trent for daring to innovate in the face of very strong opposition. Kudos to him for having a voice and for taking the path that is less travelled for it has made not only all the difference for him but for the rest of us.

@oldguytoo Perhaps you should look at Trent's model before you make accusations that he advocates piracy. Indeed, you should consider that piracy isn't as black and white as you'd like to box it - legally and philosophically. If socialism means that music - which was always meant to be FOR the people - is more affordable then where do we all sign up? I'm not sure why you'd worship capitalism after the woes it has inflicted on the world, not to mention the current economic crisis that can be squarely blamed on capitalistic economic rationalism based banking techniques.

What you seem to dislike is people trying something new and innovative against the current model. You seem to believe any model other than the current greed based one is someone trying to 'not pay for it'. You seem to think that views other than your capitalist dogma are socialist. Well, I hate to point it out to you oldguytoo but that makes you a facist. And the closest government to that at the moment is communist China and, oh look, the US's 'you are either with us or against us' attitude. There is room for other views and other models. Yes, new artists need support and that is exactly what Trent and others are trying to provide.

For someone who would claim to be from the land of the free; you have a funny way of showing it.

[Maccess]

What about the money all those shotgun legal threats generated for the RIAA? Will Metallica and the rest of the "gone digital" artists work to have that money returned to the single moms and schoolchildren they threatened with lawsuits?

[Drazhna]

For some that have been though the label system, they want to build a better mouse trap.

Other, younger acts will still want the glamor of the labels and then eventually they'll learn the same lessons as other before them.

But once a 'non-label' system is established as a widespread entity, the vultures will be there to monopolize and start it all over again. An independant business always conglomerates.

[MadLyb]

Digital BAD!

Beer GOOD!

[thelemurking]

Perhaps before they venture into uncharted territories, they might want to hire a lyric consultant. The current single that's getting a lot of air play sounds like it was written by a 12 yr old.

Example:
Suicide, I've already died
You're just the funeral I've been waiting for
Cyanide, living dead inside
Break this empty shell forevermore

Dear god, did they even try? That's the most retarded chorus I have ever heard. Write some songs worth listening to, then people might actually want to buy it... physical and digital. Metallica following in the footsteps of NIN, Radiohead and others just seems so ironic and hypocritical. They appear to be a bunch of has-been sellouts lost in the old game, trying to find a way to stay afloat in the new age. Go sell your teen angst some where else cause we ain't buying it here anymore. It's funny cause they got to be in their late 40's early 50's and still trying to produce angry metal to a bunch of teens.

[ewelch]

Those lyrics beat the tar out of most hip-hop lyrics these days.

My w**g is big, I beat my b**ch, let's buy some bling cuz I got rich.

[Shabizzle]

ewelch, which rap artist are u quoting?

[screamapillar]

Sounds like ewelch summed up the misogynistic bigot crud that is the majority of the hip hop music industry pretty well to me. The pop music industry too needs to be pulled down a peg for its role in damaging young girls in particular. What the hell is wrong with these people marketing sex to children? I'm not talking teens either - I'm talking elementary pre-pubescent school kids. I only hope the new label-less market is so successful these monsters all fall.

And as for the lyrics thelemurking quoted, if you have ever known someone or been depressed or impacted by the horror that is suicide (and it is statistically likely) then you'd actually find those lyrics quote profound. You'd relate and think, you know, this person actually understands emptiness. Perhaps one must learn to be a little more empathetic before you bash poetry? It wasn't that long ago that people said similar things about WW [swoon] and Byron... how wrong they were.

[thelemurking]

screamapillar - I'm not dissing the meaning of the lyrics, just how forced and contrived it sounds. especially the cyanide part...

I agree, hip hop lyrics are an abomination, but since this was about Lars and Metallica, hip hop is completely off subject. Personally, I think Metallica should have just quit after Master of Puppets because they moved into radio friendly suckville ever since.

[Pete Saman]

This sums Metallica up:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-9965792-17.html?tag=mncol

Corporate chameleons.

[pjscullion]

Lars Ulrich is a massive tool. What a jerk. I haven't forgotten about the list of 1000 names, addresses, and phone numbers of his fans he took with him to the Napster hearings. I haven't forgotten the last three TERRIBLE albums he slapped his name on. I haven't forgotten the interview where he said their next album was going to be a "Pay-What-You-Want" affair like NIN or Radiohead. I laughed when I heard that.

I'm not laughing any more.

Despite my deep, dark hatred toward the band in general and Lars in particular, he does have a point. The term "Music Label" has become a curse to the general public. Trent has done wonders for digital distribution and artists' rights for their music, as well as produce some of my favorite music and video game soundtracks. Trent is truly a great musician and techno-pioneer. Out of all the artists in the world, Trent is the best choice for this particular job.

It's time for Metallica to retire and produce some greatest hits albums for digital distribution. Metallica has become culturally and musically irrelevant. Their ridiculously long, boring songs go well to compliment the hypocrisy and stupidity of every word that Lars speaks. How about you pay some of the money to the fans whose lives and families you destroyed with your lawsuits, Lars the Tool?

[pentest]

Metallica hasn't done anything good in 22 years. Who cares what they do?

[drbyte]

For true musicians, it's just a hobby now. Releases are for promotion. If your lucky you can tour if you can actually play instruments and make good money that way.

Trent has made his nestegg, he does what he does out of passion. If he was just starting out there's no way you could support yourself thru digital music and fan remixes.

[screamapillar]

And yet, kudos to him for doing it, for having the passion still. Kudos to him for supporting the new artists in it too, so that they don't have to go what he went through. So they can earn a living from their passion too rather than having to sell their soul to a label and be a slave. We don't get good quality music from slaves, look at the pop industry.

[drbyte]

Oh yes. I think it's amazing what he's doing for his fans, and the music is really an interesting listen. But he's in a good financial position where he can do that and not have to really worry about the old revenue streams anymore. He'll make more touring than with any cd / download release. Same thing with Radiohead.

[sandor_f]

"One" is still one of my all time favorite songs though... I thought Metallica stopped writing after that, didn't they?!?

Watching that video on MTV in the late '80s was riveting to a kid....

[diffraction]

This article just muddies the waters. There is a world of difference between supporting the "possibilities" of new media technologies and supporting illegal theft of intellectual property.

Ulrich's recent comments represent no contradiction of his stance against illegal downloading.