Heavy metal band Metallica have changed their minds on licensing out music and it has paid off.  Yesterday during an  interview with Howard Stern, Metallica’s drummer Lars Ulrich openly discussed the band’s collaboration with Stranger Things which became one of the show’s most successful season four scenes by using “Master of Puppets” as a backing track.

During the interview Ulrich describes the moment when he and the band decided to share their music with the world.

“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.” said Ulrich

When the Netflix series featured “Master of Puppets” in its season four finale, during a scene in which Joseph Quinn’s character Eddie performs the song in the Upside Down,  Metallica had a surge in streams. Four decades later from its original release, “Master of Puppets” made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 35.

“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.” said Ulrich

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado