Metallica’s Kirk Hammett leaves a heavy warning sign calling out all music streamers to watch for the effects of using the popular streaming services. This crushing message leaves people concerned for the upcoming turns of the industry as the year continues. 

“We warned everyone that this was gonna happen. We warned everyone that the music industry was gonna lose eighty percent of its net worth, power and influence. When these monumental shifts come you just either fucking rattle the cage and get nothing done or you move forward.” (Kirk Hammett) 

Metallica has had a history of issues in dealing with lawsuits and pressing charges on copyright infringement from Napster. This is only one of countless allegedly known illegal peer-to-peer file sharing services available for users to download and share music globally. In doing so, Metallica marked history within the music industry for artists’ lawsuits on a streaming company. In Hammett’s opinion, the sole reason in which Metallica is barely receiving fair pay is thanks to having a large platform and renowned following. For smaller artists who aren’t critically acclaimed yet, these illegal services can become detrimental to the already small amount of fees being received on regular platforms such as Apple music and Spotify. 

After addressing this said issue, Hammett points out the optimism in the situation which stems from the increase in musicians.
“”There’s so much disorganization in the world right now, so much division. Music brings people together. Music organizes people and their thoughts. Maybe because there’s more musicians it’ll make for a better future for everyone.” (Kirk Hammett) 

At the end of the day, Metallica is only one artist out of the countless thousands which are being exploited for their hard work. With more passionate individuals overflooding the market, there will be more voices standing up against this issue and standing besides Hammett in the courthouse. 

Checkout mxdwn’s previous article in regards to Kirk Hammett which details his announcement to his own sobriety! 

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado