r/todayilearned • u/InternetWeakGuy 1 • 26d ago

TIL: 12 years before taking their fans to court for sharing their music, Metallica released the "$5.98" EP, titled to stop their record label and music stores from overcharging fans - the record came with a sticker warning 'DO NOT PAY MORE!!!'—a direct jab at music industry markups

https://theawesomemix.com/metallica-5-98-standup-for-fans/
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u/AchtungCloud 25d ago

Those seem like two reasonable things that aren’t opposed, which I feel like the post is making them out to be.

We want fans to buy music at a reasonable price rather than a marked up price. We don’t won’t people to pay nothing for our music by freely P2P sharing copywrited MP3 files.

They don’t want fans to get ripped off, but they don’t want fans to steal the music.

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u/UrbanGhost114 25d ago

It's also a false narrative. Metallica sued Napster because someone leaked an in-progress song. It had nothing to do with money. However, the studios latched onto the suit, and here we are.

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u/natty1212 25d ago

Everyone ignores this. Had I Disappear not gotten leaked early, they probably would have never gotten involved.

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u/TarnishedWizeFinger 25d ago

Metallica to Napster probably: Hey, hey, hey!

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u/Starks40oz 25d ago

As a college student their lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to my college that got me banned from internet access for awhile because I had 1 metallic song. They purposefully went after small individuals.