Metallica finished up their tenure at Warner Music Group at just the right time. Their new Rick Rubin-produced album Death Magnetic has gained them critical success and has bolstered the trust of their core audience. So what does a band with a huge fan base do when their record contract runs out?
“Without offending any of the good people from the record company in the room, no,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told LA Times. “Let’s cut to the chase… . The primary — not the only, but the primary — function of a record label is to act as a bank. When you’re fortunate enough to be successful and so on, you don’t need to rely on record companies as the banks… .”
That sounds like the band is considering releasing music on their own like the model Radiohead pioneered, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor improved upon and the Counting Crows are likely planning.
“We’re doing a bunch of shows with Trent [Reznor] this summer in Europe,” Ulrich added. “I look forward to sitting down and talking to him about what’s on his radar.”