So many people out publicly licking the boots of the music industry over the whole Metallica thing from last night, claiming they were absolutely right to go after Napster back in the day because "foresaw a point when digital music downloads would devastate musician's earnings from sales".
Of course in the real world the music industry itself has been impoverishing artists via predatory contracts since at least the 1950s.
For context, apparently due to copyright concerns the Twitch Gaming channel overdubbed Metallica's concert at Blizzcon with mellow 8-bit music instead. Which is quite ironic given that Lars Ulrich in particular was absolutely rabid in going after the file sharing service Napster and its users. This is despite his own admission that his own involvement in music started with copying cassette tapes from his friend's collection.
So this is the future Lars wanted so badly. But of course there are fools coming out of the woodwork claiming that he was justified in pushing copyright as hard as he did.
Thing is, the mendacity of the label--dominated music industry has been public knowledge for a long time. Janis Ian wrote an article about her experience back in 2002, which sparked a wave of other artists, and even industry reps, corroborating.
Very few artists make a profit from signing with big labels. It's been that way for well over a half century. Metallica are one of a very few lucky acts who do see money to any degree.
This is why bands tour so much -- their living depends on ticket sales and merch, not the actual CDs. Often small artists end up *owing* the label money due to the nature of the contracts. Downloading and piracy never cost them a cent, it's all on the labels.
I could go on, but a lot of this is out there, presented by people a lot more knowledgeable than me.
The fact is, Lars & Co. were not justified in their actions, and they've played a big role in a future where services are *scared* to play their music. Pretending they were having their pocket picked is the most obvious capitalist bootlicking I can think of.