Metallica’s Lars Ulrich hugged Napster co-founder (and Spotify investor) Sean Parker on a stage today in New York — twice.
No pigs were spotted flying nearby.
I missed that shot because I am not a photographer, but here’s Lars hugging Spotify CEO Daniel Ek:
Ulrich announced that as of today, Metallica’s entire back catalog will be available on Spotify, during a panel discussion with Ek, Parker, and Huffington Post’s Michael Hogan:
Metallica had been a Spotify holdout until today, so that’s news, but of course much of the talk revolved around the Napster days, when Ulrich personally rode an elevator to Napster’s headquarters carrying boxes containing the printed out names of hundreds of thousands of Napster users who were sharing Metallica’s music without permission.
If you weren’t paying attention back then, trust me, or Google it: Metallica vs. Napster was a big, big deal.
According to Ulrich, much of the conflict could have been avoided had the two sides simply sat down and tried to understand where the other was coming from. We’ll try to add some detail to this after we go through the tape, but for now, know this: Lars Ulrich is totally cool with all of Metallica being available on the internet for free.
More from today’s Spotify event:
- The New Spotify Lets You Discover, Collect Music More Easily
- Spotify: 5 Million Paid Subscribers, $500 Million in Artist/Label Payouts, 1 Billion Playlists
Photography: Eliot Van Buskirk