Metallica - one of, if not the most popular heavy metal bands in the world - has historically been very protective of their music rights but has been lightening up in recent years. Most notably, the band allowed the use of their song "Master of Puppets" on the season four finale of the sci-fi Netflix series Stranger Things, which premiered earlier this year. The drummer of the band, Lars Ulrich, talked with radio show host Howard Stern earlier this week and shed some light on why Metallica changed their minds:
“It used to be, with Metallica, we were always the ‘no’ guys... We did a 180. We just said, ‘You know what? This is stupid. Why are we hanging onto these [songs] like they’re so important, like they’re the crown jewels?’ We started saying yes to everything. Let’s share our music with the world.”
The 'no' guy's comment refers to how the band used to be protective over copyright infringement on their songs. In 2000, they launched a controversial lawsuit against Napster, an audio file-sharing network that users had been utilizing to distribute Metallica's music to each other for free. In an era before streaming services like Spotify, one of the few ways to listen to artists whenever you wanted was by buying the physical album - or finding it on services like Napster. Metallica won the lawsuit, and eventually, the service shut down, but the band took a hit to its reputation.
Lars Ulrich was 'Psyched' About the Stranger Things Scene
Recently, Metallica has been more amicable with their songs being shared and used in films, TV shows, and videos. They gave their blessing to Stranger Things to use their song "Master of Puppets," which originally came out on the 1986 album of the same name. In the show, metalhead Eddie Munson (played by Joseph Quinn) plays the song in the terrifying alternate dimension called The Upside Down to distract otherworldly demons and draw them away from his friends. Lars Ulrich loved it:
“It was such a mindf**k to see how that became a phenomenon... It was totally unexpected. Who would’ve thought 40 years later that these songs could still have that impact? We were psyched to be part of it.”
After the season finale premiered, the song landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although it was a hit immediately on its release 36 years ago, it gained massive traction with younger audiences who haven't heard it yet. Earlier this year, Joseph Quinn even made a short video with Metallica, which was posted on TikTok.
The first season of Stranger Things was released on Netflix in 2016, and the most recent season began streaming on May 27th, 2022. The fifth season has been confirmed, although no release date has been given. Created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, the cast includes Winona Ryder, Caleb McLaughlin, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Mille Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, and Joseph Quinn.
Metallica's next album, 72 Seasons, launches on April 14th, 2023. A single from the album, Lux Aeterna, was released on November 28th, 2022.