10 Artists That Went Head-To-Head With The Music Industry And WON
9. Metallica Vs Napster
Metallica have always split opinion when it comes to music fans. They have a big, dedicated fan base, but even a lot of metal-heads think their music is piffle.
That said, any band that writes Enter Sandman and Master of Puppets should probably be given a free pass for life.
In 2000 Metallica discovered a demo of their new single I Disappear was being passed around on Napster for free. They promptly took the file-sharing company, which specialised in MP3s before a judge. The move was controversial to some, who thought the band was being greedy and ignoring fans who were benefitting from the website.
Metallica won out, and once they did, everyone wanted a piece of Napster: suits from Dr Dre and others followed and the website soon went into liquidation. Nowadays most would agree file-sharing websites are killing musicians, so Metallicas position seems less greedy.
They were the first in a long line of artists to complain about file-sharing sites, but unlike most artists, they actually got their own way.