Seventeen years on from igniting a legal firestorm surrounding peer-to-peer file sharing, Metallica's entire catalogue of music is returning to Napster — lawfully, of course.
Billboard reports that the band's own Blackened Recordings directly brokered the deal with the streaming service. The band reclaimed the rights to their master recordings from Warner Music Group back in 2012. Of course, the announcement comes days before the band release their upcoming 11th studio album, Hardwired...To Self-Destruct.
"The release of Metallica's new album comes at an incredible time for streaming music with streaming subscriptions accounting for almost half of industry sales in the first half of 2016," Napster said in a statement. "Today, Napster is a legal, paid subscription service with a catalog of over 40 million tracks. We are thrilled to bring Metallica's full catalog -- including their latest new album — to Napster subscribers around the world."
The famous lawsuit between the two parties saw the band seek a minimum of $10 million USD in damages from the then-illegal service, with the courts ruling in Metallica's favour. Napster has of course become a legal streaming service following ownership changing hands from Best Buy to Rhapsody.
Hardwired...To Self-Destruct is due out on Friday (November 18) through the band's own Blackened Recordings. The band also announced a massive music video campaign behind the record, but you can get up to speed on the band's historic legal battle versus Napster for old times sake in the player below.
Billboard reports that the band's own Blackened Recordings directly brokered the deal with the streaming service. The band reclaimed the rights to their master recordings from Warner Music Group back in 2012. Of course, the announcement comes days before the band release their upcoming 11th studio album, Hardwired...To Self-Destruct.
"The release of Metallica's new album comes at an incredible time for streaming music with streaming subscriptions accounting for almost half of industry sales in the first half of 2016," Napster said in a statement. "Today, Napster is a legal, paid subscription service with a catalog of over 40 million tracks. We are thrilled to bring Metallica's full catalog -- including their latest new album — to Napster subscribers around the world."
The famous lawsuit between the two parties saw the band seek a minimum of $10 million USD in damages from the then-illegal service, with the courts ruling in Metallica's favour. Napster has of course become a legal streaming service following ownership changing hands from Best Buy to Rhapsody.
Hardwired...To Self-Destruct is due out on Friday (November 18) through the band's own Blackened Recordings. The band also announced a massive music video campaign behind the record, but you can get up to speed on the band's historic legal battle versus Napster for old times sake in the player below.
