
Blender.com brings us the first response from inside Metallica on the long-raging Guitar Hero/Death Magnetic controversy. Drummer and Napster-bane Lars Ulrich is quoted thus:
"Listen, there's nothing up with the audio quality. It's 2008, and that's how we make records. ...I've been listening to it the last couple of days in my car, and it sounds fuckin' smokin'."
Now for the particularly incendiary part:
"The Internet gives everybody a voice, and the Internet has a tendency to give the complainers a louder voice."
After a far-reaching internet promo campaign, digital distribution of Death Magnetic hours ahead of street date (in high quality non-DRM mp3 no less), and a year-long "fly-on-the-wall" web video series chronicling the making of the new album, you might have come to the conclusion that Metallica has come to embrace the tubes they once cursed.
But alas.
Hit up Kotaku for a sweet A/B comparison of the Guitar Hero tracks vs. their CD counterparts.
-Final word:
What Mr. Ulrich and a lot of other people in the entertainment industry don't understand about the net is actually quite simple: the internet has transformed all media into two-way communication. Those who consume your products have been given a voice and believe me: they are going to use it. The biggest change for those accustomed to the "old ways" is simply learning to embrace your fans on their terms instead of yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment