You thought Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead were making good use of the Internet? Well, Metallica have revealed the pricing tiers for the Mission: Metallica Platinum experience. For $25, you’ll get MP3s of the album on the street release date. (At midnight! How awesomely retro is that!) And for $12 more, they’ll throw in the actual CD. (Shipping included!) But true fans will cough up another $90 for a 5-LP box set of God knows what, and a Mission: Metallica lithograph. (Ow!) And don’t forget that all these great deals include the chance to download live shows, watch backstage footage, and enter contests for free tickets. You also get $10 off a Metallica Fan Club membership (normally $25-$45!) and riff ringtones. (Kirk Hammett on my cellphone? Widdly-widdly-wee!)
And if you’re one of those people who think you should be able to check out stuff for free, you’ll still get to hear some riffs and look at some photos. (But not as many as the fans that cough up the cash!)
So what if you want to buy the album through Mission: Metallica but don’t think those Platinum prices are worth it? Don’t worry, Metallica’s still looking out for you. Mission: Metallica members can order the MP3s (360k!) for only $11.99. And the physical CD? It’s yours, along with the MP3s, for twenty bucks. No shipping and handling, because shipping and handling is for asshole bands who don’t respect their fans.
Sadly, some fans are assholes too, and throwing the awesome shit up on YouTube. When these guys start talking about how much the new album sucks, tell them you won’t know until street date. (At midnight!)
Only hardcore fans should be aware of lyrics like “Suicide / I’ve already died / You’re just the funeral I’ve been waiting for!”
Mission: Metallica
MISSION METALLICA - New Song Previews (Edit) [YouTube]
Therapy is expensive.
“Suicide / I’ve already died / You’re just the funeral I’ve been waiting for!”
This really should be David Cook’s first single.
Widdly Widdly Wee, INDEEEED, Sir.
I read this three times and I still don’t get it. Who pays extra for mp3s? Why not just buy the album and rip it to your computer? Or buy the mp3s and burn a disc? Or just steal it off the internet, like EVERYONE.
I’ve seen some dumb things in my career, but this one takes the cake…
@CortneyH: I was thinking the same. I’m assuming Metallica subscribes to the theory that ripping your own is not fair use?
I subscribe to the theory that Metallica has their heads up their asses.
They’re selling the experience of following the new album. But if this is what it costs to preview the new stuff, and then you have to pay even more for the album itself… oh forget it, my head is about to explode. I don’t even want to know what they’ll charge non-subscribers - also known as the idiots who don’t just download it for free.
You know, for a band that cares about their fans, they sure do soak them for an awful lot of money.
God what a horrific logo.
Metallica does no wrong in my book and I can’t wait for the CD (although those lyrics are kind of cheesy). The riffs and drums I heard I like. I love all their CDs.
If you order the mp3s you get the download link at midnight the day of release. My guess is if you buy the CD you get it a few days (few hours?) later?
I know plenty of people that did the same thing for Radiohead because they wanted the mp3s but wanted the higher quality CDs with the album artwork, etc when it comes out.
I don’t think they soak their fans. You don’t have to pay for the stuff to still see things on the site. But also in a time when people are stealing CDs by downloading for free, all artists are looking for new revenue sources.
Metallica treats their fan club better than 99% of the bands out there. Before the St. Anger tour they played 3 shows at a club in SF for only fan club members, and they do a meet and greet before every show.
@bnb614: I didn’t know Lars was an Idolator commenter. Dude, you still collecting ugly art?
@bnb614: Yeah but for Radiohead you could download the .mp3s for free if you wanted, or for 1,000 bucks. And then buy the physical CD later.
I got the new NIN album for 10 bucks and had the mp3’s instantly available a month before release, and the S/H came to 17.00, 3 bucks less than this ‘free shipping’ that Metallica offers.
Such savings!
@Ned Raggett: This should be David Archuleta’s first single.
And that was for two CDs in a sweet case. ^_^
@Tenno: Then don’t buy the CD or subscribe to the site if you think it is a ripoff. I don’t begrudge any artist from trying to make money on their art. It’s a free market. We’ll see if the Mission:Metallica website works, because if it does, a whole lot of other artists will do it.
Plus Metallica has a pretty hardcore audience, not like many bands today in the iPod/free download generation where you listen to a band’s CD, then move on. Metallica comes from the time when you liked a band and bought every record/tape/CD they put out. Not everyone still does obviously but Metallica has a pretty dedicated fan base. They are one of few bands that can still tour and fill sheds.
Granted I am a huge fan but I can’t wait for the CD.
Audif you can call me Lars and call his art collection ugly, but since he sold it all (as seen on SKOM) for about $10,000,000, which is probably $9,900,000 more than the $$ you and I have combined, my guess he doesn’t care what you call it!
@Audif Jackson Winters III: BASQUIAT SUCKS.
This sounds like another stupid idea attributable to the Ghost of Cliff Burton.
@bnb614: I’m like that with NIN I guess, it’s just cheaper, hell free even, to be their fan lately.
Metallica lost me after the black album for several good reasons.
1) Berets
2) Every following album
3) Their attitude
4) Bob Rock or whoever that was.
Personally I hope their new album brings back the old fire, because Some Kind Of Monster was Some Kind of Shit.
Just more proof that Metallica REALLY doesn’t get it any more than they did when they went after Napster and alienated huge swaths of their fanbase. Let’s see: the going price for a new album on iTunes is $9.99 so Metallica decides to charge $25.99. Right there they are high on crack.
Doesn’t affect me either way, as I’ve hated everything they’ve done since Cliff died.