Andre Yoskowitz
5 Oct 2009 13:25
Since 2004, the rock band Metallica has been selling HQ downloads of all the band's concerts, in MP3 or FLAC, but only as a full album.
Today, the band announced that they would begin offering individual MP3s for $0.99, on their site LiveMetallica. Full albums will remain at $9.95 for MP3 and $12.95 for FLAC versions. Metallica adds that there are 270 shows currently available, ranging from 1982 until today.
Perhaps more notably, Lars Ulrich (drummer of the band) said that in the future, once their record label contract expires, the group is open to offering their next album on the Internet, with a donation model, used to perfection by Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead.
The move would be a stark contrast to the Metallica of 1999 which almost single handily took down the original P2P client Napster after Ulrich found hundreds of Metallica songs available through the client, for free.