AfterDawn: Tech news

Lars Ulrich 'pirated' his own CD

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2009 9:27 User comments (34)

Lars Ulrich 'pirated' his own CD Lars Ulrich, member of the popular rock band Metallica, has admitted that he has 'pirated' his band's own CD, "Death Magnetic," and found the experience quite "bizarre."
Ulrich is known to the file sharing community as the man whose vocal campaign took down the original Napster, and he has been a staunch opponent of piracy ever since.

Last year, the band released their latest album ‘Death Magnetic,’ and surprisingly Ulrich noted: “If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. It’s 2008 and it’s part of how it is these days.”

In an interview with VH1’s “That Metal Show” this week though, Ulrich has admitted he 'pirated' his own album off a "file-sharing client," just to see how it felt.

“I sat there myself and downloaded ‘Death Magnetic’ from the Internet just to try it,”
he added. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is how it works.’ I figured if there is anybody that has a right to download ‘Death Magnetic’ for free, it’s me.”

“We found it - this was like two or three days after it leaked. I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve gotta try this.’ So we sat there and thirty minutes later I had ‘Death Magnetic’ in my computer. It was kind of bizarre.”

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34 user comments

15.3.2009 21:28

its always for money....

25.3.2009 21:38

In other news Lars forgot to use PeerGuardian and got sued by the RIAA for pirating his own music...

I wish that would have happened because then it would be another step to taking down the RIAA.

However, if you were an artist it would be a bit strange, although expected now a days, to see and hear your final, retail album via your computer days before it's "official" release.

35.3.2009 21:49

Originally posted by Pop_Smith:
In other news Lars forgot to use PeerGuardian and got sued by the RIAA for pirating his own music...

I wish that would have happened because then it would be another step to taking down the RIAA.

However, if you were an artist it would be a bit strange, although expected now a days, to see and hear your final, retail album via your computer days before it's "official" release.

I Love It!! You get jcaked for nikin' your own stuff!!! Priceless!!!

45.3.2009 21:53

thirty minutes later? Seems like a slow connection. Maybe I'll give it a try see if I can get it on my computer in 10 minutes. Oh new Metallica never mind...

Whether it was his or not he openly admitted to download an album by illegal means. If they don't want other people doing it, then they show bad example by doing it themselves. Maybe RIAA should make an example out of him and take him to court.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Mar 2009 @ 10:00

55.3.2009 23:23

Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield are douche bags.
Blaming piracy for their declining sales despite the fact that they haven't released anything decent since the "and justice for all" album. I wouldn't even waste the bandwidth on their latest crap, I got ripped off buying their "saint anger" album, gave it to a friend after 1 week (big metallica fan)he threw it in the trash.

65.3.2009 23:56

So 10 years after suing Napter this guy finally figures out how file sharing works? What an idiot.

75.3.2009 23:57

nail his balls to the wall !
hows is he going to be able to eat if he downloads his own music, and who knows if he will stop at just his own stuff

86.3.2009 01:24

Note that it didn't say if he liked using P2P. It was incriminating enough to admit he did it.

96.3.2009 01:52
abby111
Inactive

Originally posted by Leningrad:
its always for money....


certainly it is , money is nothing but mean while we can do nothing without money ,so the most thing we talk about is money and we do most for moey
ok ,here i also have a good share :
SPAM
there are many kinds beautiful consumer electronics,which may let your life more colorful , good luck , and be happy
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 06 Mar 2009 @ 9:58

106.3.2009 02:56

What a douche

116.3.2009 03:18

Originally posted by chubbyInc:
thirty minutes later? Seems like a slow connection. Maybe I'll give it a try see if I can get it on my computer in 10 minutes. Oh new Metallica never mind...

Whether it was his or not he openly admitted to download an album by illegal means. If they don't want other people doing it, then they show bad example by doing it themselves. Maybe RIAA should make an example out of him and take him to court.
The "illegal means" is P2P file sharing, and it perfectly LEGAL. It is the copying of intellectual property that you do not hold the copyright for is illegal. i.e. Me downloading that album.

He owns the copyright, so he's technically downloading a completely legal file. The person actually sharing it is not unfortunatley

126.3.2009 04:00

The ludicrous thing about this is that if he indeed downloaded his own album via P2P, he was also sharing it to others ;D

136.3.2009 04:07

Originally posted by Aeonus:
The ludicrous thing about this is that if he indeed downloaded his own album via P2P, he was also sharing it to others ;D
that singular statement makes me happy.

truly a wild event, to witness the douche who took down napster sharing his own music.

146.3.2009 07:05

Originally posted by jookycola:
What a douche

Seconded. Next time maybe he should do his research before he snuffs out a community of over 25 million people.

156.3.2009 07:33

"Like dude... it's like the CD but it's not the CD, dude. like WOW!"

166.3.2009 10:40

Originally posted by limelight:
So 10 years after suing Napter this guy finally figures out how file sharing works? What an idiot.
You'd think he would have taken a bit of time to understand how the process works before taking legal action / trying to take it down before.

176.3.2009 11:04

Quote:
Originally posted by Pop_Smith:
In other news Lars forgot to use PeerGuardian and got sued by the RIAA for pirating his own music...

I wish that would have happened because then it would be another step to taking down the RIAA.

However, if you were an artist it would be a bit strange, although expected now a days, to see and hear your final, retail album via your computer days before it's "official" release.

I Love It!! You get jcaked for nikin' your own stuff!!! Priceless!!!

But you forget they do not own the distribution rights thus may not illicitly access the media they made. ^^

186.3.2009 12:17

put out good albums and people will buy.on the other hand he's been downloading non stop ever since and has moved on to movies as well.

196.3.2009 14:13

Metallica caught the same bug that George Lucas caught. Namely, that once youre rich and famous..you have the fight the temptation to mellow out too much..or your creative spark flickers out. They start eating out at 5 star restaurants, partying too hard, and not working on quality material. Lucas made one flop right after another bc he let the money go to his head: Phantom Menace, Indy and the Crystal Skull, etc.

Same with Metallica. They lost incentive. Maybe if the economy really TANKS and we have a major depression from coast to coast, then they will see the light and start working on good quality $hit as if theyre very lives depended on it.

206.3.2009 16:27

Originally posted by windsong:
Metallica caught the same bug that George Lucas caught. Namely, that once youre rich and famous..you have the fight the temptation to mellow out too much..or your creative spark flickers out. They start eating out at 5 star restaurants, partying too hard, and not working on quality material. Lucas made one flop right after another bc he let the money go to his head: Phantom Menace, Indy and the Crystal Skull, etc.

Same with Metallica. They lost incentive. Maybe if the economy really TANKS and we have a major depression from coast to coast, then they will see the light and start working on good quality $hit as if theyre very lives depended on it.
Good post.
Ulrich and Hetfield were devoured by their own ego's. Douche's both of em.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 06 Mar 2009 @ 4:28

217.3.2009 04:39

What an idiot! If he really wanted to know how it felt he should have picked a NOT popular band & stolen music (as opposed to taking his own) & really seen how fast you can download over a P2P network! Can you even steel your own stuff??? This all just seames
like one of the dumbest thing someone could say or do! It just makes him look like someone who just doesn't get it!

227.3.2009 08:30

just lol

237.3.2009 08:43

Ahh...what an ironic twist. After fighting tooth and nail to get Naptster shut down, Lars downloads his own bands album. At least it was Death Magnetic and not St. Anger...oh wait...no one wants St. Anger. Nevermind.

247.3.2009 13:39

So, I guess now that Metallica's music sucks, it's OK to pirate their crap? I concur, "what a douche".

257.3.2009 16:16

Quote:

I Love It!! You get jcaked for nikin' your own stuff!!! Priceless!!!
No, its not his own stuff. For every sale (say $10) the artist gets only a small part, the rest goes to the record company. So in fact he was mainly stealing from the record company.

268.3.2009 16:20

Originally posted by Dapsone:
So, I guess now that Metallica's music sucks, it's OK to pirate their crap? I concur, "what a douche".
Hahaha...this is so true

278.3.2009 16:21

Originally posted by Pop_Smith:
In other news Lars forgot to use PeerGuardian and got sued by the RIAA for pirating his own music...

I wish that would have happened because then it would be another step to taking down the RIAA.

However, if you were an artist it would be a bit strange, although expected now a days, to see and hear your final, retail album via your computer days before it's "official" release.
lmao

2814.3.2009 10:40

ulrich is a pretentious douchebag. lest we forget mettallica was noticed by recording companies and got a contract after they made a album called "no life till leather" and distributed it by asking fans to copy it and give it away. essentially a "peer to peer" network. now they want to sue people for it? hypocrites.

2914.3.2009 12:07

Congrats to Lars Ulrich! He is now added to my list of Douche bags from around the world.

In no particular order they are:

1) Paul McCartney
2) Gene Simmonds
3) RIAA
4) MPAA
5) Jack Thompson
6) James Hetfield
7) Lars Ulrich

If anyone else knows any more 'douche bags' in relation to either video game 'violence' or Music/Movie Piracy, feel free to add them to the list!

3014.3.2009 12:18

Originally posted by limelight:
So 10 years after suing Napter this guy finally figures out how file sharing works? What an idiot.

This guy's so bloody ignorant about piracy he wanted to "see how it works"!!!!! HAHAHAHA loser.

And Xenon... I like that list!! Maybe I don't agree with Paul McCartney cuz I don't know what he has done that may cause you to think him a massive douche, but everyone else I agree with!!

3114.3.2009 12:33

ST2006.

McCartney is on my list due to his attitude towards indie music and his failed attempts at making law up here in Canada. (the whole sealing industry yadda yadda saying all Canadians are butchers, and his interview on Larry King Live awhile back.) Maybe I should retract him as a douche bag and put him in my karma's a BITCH list, Because after the King interview his marriage TANKED! And we all know what happened to his wealth now don't we! Instead of worrying about our Inuit and their sealing activities he should've been worrying 'bout his marriage! lol ;)

3217.3.2009 20:58

What was disappointing is that there were a lot of lesser known artists that got exposure during the Napster days. I couldn't count the number of bands that I had never heard of before finding them in someone's shared directory. This lead to cd purchases and concert ticket sales by me. Unfortunately that was also when Metallica was very popular making lots of money. Now that they're not the hot ticket anymore they probably realize the benefit of having their work "leaked" on the internet.

F Lars Ulrich

332.8.2010 17:35
greatestmutaaaa
Unverified new user

What stupid edited by ddp many of you are. Your platform is simply " I want to download music for free and don't give a shit", theirs is " it costs millions to make, promote, and release an album", yet you all can't understand why they wouldn't want you to download their music? Get off of your high horses. If you release any product for sell that it takes time, money and effort to produce you wouldn't want anyone to take it for free. Whether it's cookies or music. They're not aliens or assholes for trying to protect their product. Yes, they have money, but there's nothing wrong with wanting more. It's a capitalist society.

And for you guys who say " many artists discovered on napster", Metallica knows how valuable bootlegging can be for promotion. They became popular because Lars himself passed out bootlegged demos. However, when a band releases an album that they spent time money and effort to create, what is wrong with them having the power to say that they don't want people to pay for it? That's what it's about. Again, what is you guys' platform sans " we just want to download music for free and don't care about the artists". If a newer, younger band complained about how napster was hurting its sales you all would say " Well nobody wants your records anyway, nobody knows you, edited by ddp".

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Aug 2010 @ 9:42

343.8.2010 02:34

Originally posted by greatestmutaaaa:
What stupid edited by ddp many of you are. Your platform is simply " I want to download music for free and don't give a shit", theirs is " it costs millions to make, promote, and release an album", yet you all can't understand why they wouldn't want you to download their music? Get off of your high horses. If you release any product for sell that it takes time, money and effort to produce you wouldn't want anyone to take it for free. Whether it's cookies or music. They're not aliens or assholes for trying to protect their product. Yes, they have money, but there's nothing wrong with wanting more. It's a capitalist society.

And for you guys who say " many artists discovered on napster", Metallica knows how valuable bootlegging can be for promotion. They became popular because Lars himself passed out bootlegged demos. However, when a band releases an album that they spent time money and effort to create, what is wrong with them having the power to say that they don't want people to pay for it? That's what it's about. Again, what is you guys' platform sans " we just want to download music for free and don't care about the artists". If a newer, younger band complained about how napster was hurting its sales you all would say " Well nobody wants your records anyway, nobody knows you, edited by ddp".
making music shouldnt be about making money.it should be about singing and playing an instument and being happy and being joy to you and others.Once an artist cares more about making money than good quality music its a major problem.I knew 4 guys that were excellent singers.them 4 guys could all play the guitar and were good enough to release an album.I asked them why they dont and they said "we're happy busking as long as we get enough money for food, and smokes were happy".thats what music should be about not money.

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