@ va

Off to Napster land.

> Metallica’s full catalogue finally available on Napster

Caroline Ho Arts Editor

Mee and Napster have finally reconciled their differences, after almost two decades and a lot of changes in the world of digital music sharing. Metallica just released their 10th studio album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct on November 18, and Napster has announced that this album—along with all other Metallica songs—is now available through their streaming services. Remember Napster, the first peer-to-peer file-sharing service that allowed Internet users to transfer and download music files for free and usually illegally, the precursor to programs like LimeWire and Kazaa? Nowadays it’s an online music store with paid monthly subscriptions, but in its original incarnation it was shut down after going bankrupt from a mess of legal issues, a mess in which Metallica was a key part. Napster’s propensity for piracy was met with displeasure in the industry, basically from the start. In December of 1999, just half a year after the company’s launch, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit against Napster for copyright infringement. Metallica entered the fight when, in early 2000, they found out a demo of their song “I Disappear’— which was meant to be released on the Mission: Impossible H soundtrack later

that year—had been leaked to radios. When the leak was traced to Napster, the band discovered that all of their songs were available as free, illegal downloads.

In March 2000, Metallica filed its own

suit against Napster (and against several big universities, since college campuses were the main sites of piracy). It was the first case of big-name musicians suing file-sharing companies for copyright infringement, and a month later Dr.

Dre followed with his own suit.

The case was ruled in Metallica’s favour in March 2001, when the presiding judge granted a preliminary injunction ordering Napster to remove all of the band’s songs. In July of that year, the company reached a settlement with Metallica and Dr. Dre in which Napster agreed to filter out all music by artists who hadn't given their permission for their music to be shared. Up against the artists and the RIAA, Napster shut down—supposedly temporarily while they fixed their filters, but the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

Metallica also faced plenty of backlash, partly because, as part of the lawsuit, the band got over 300,000 users banned from Napster for allegedly downloading their music. To some fans, the whole legal wrangle proved that the band only cared about money—even though, in multiple statements and interviews since, drummer Lars Ulrich has said that it was about control and free

Have an idea for a story? M arts@theotherpress.ca

choice over releasing their own music. Metallica still hasn’t managed to convince everyone that it’s about the music and not the money, and the baggage of the Napster legal battle has followed them around. In a 2014 Q&A on Reddit, drummer Lars Ulrich said he finds it odd “how big of a part of our legacy it has become to so many people.” But Ulrich has stated again and again that he doesn’t regret the decision to go against Napster—although he’s also referred to it as a shit storm more than once. It’s an almost anticlimactic epilogue to a story that began over 15 years ago. But

Online organization showcases ordinary, human stories

> The Moth catalogues and collects memories from volunteers

Greg Waldock Staff Writer

Goreng is a deeply-rooted human instinct. Sharing experiences and memories is a huge part of what makes up a culture. The Moth aims to gather together these stories from around the world, and let anyone hear them for free. This website is a collection of podcasts, spoken word poems, open mics, stand- up routines, and childhood memories from people speaking at events organized by the site. It creates an opportunity

for ordinary people to share major or minor events in their life in an open and community-focused environment.

The foundation of The Moth is the website, themoth.org. There, they host libraries of videos and audio recordings of participants. They also run “Pitchline,” a page where hopefuls record two-minute pitches of the stories they want to tell. This almost donation-style method of collecting stories is core to the way the

organization operates: it’s about ordinary people and their ordinary memories. Aside from the website, the organization also posts YouTube videos, uploads podcasts, has published a collection of popular and fan-favourite stories, and offers corporate programs for office communications. They also host an annual fundraising “Moth Ball.” For those more experienced in public storytelling, they also have live events featured in 26 cities around the world. Included in these are the StorySLAMs, open mic competitions similar to poetry slams common here in Vancouver. Contestants are drawn from a “hat” at the beginning of the show and perform for judges from the audience. The winners of 10 different StorySLAMs perform against each other in a Grand Championship for prizes, though as with poetry slams, participating is more emphasized than winning. The Moth also has closed mic storytelling shows featuring regular guests, and holds sponsored high school competitions across America.

=

The organization started in Georgia, where the founder George Dawes Green often talked with friends in the evening. He brought that tradition with him when he moved to New York City in 1997, and it became a regular event, and eventually a company. Since then it has hosted 2,818 live shows, including an unofficial one in Antarctica, and has

(¥Y No escape from reality ( Choirs in Concert review

(¥Y Welcome to the Bonito Generation

And more!

Image via societyofrock.com

in any case, all of Metallica’s songs are

now available to paid Napster subscribers.

And Hardwired... to Self-Destruct has so

far been a pretty huge success. Their first

album since 2008, it was reported by the

band to be the number one release in 57

countries around the world, suggesting

that the shadow of the Napster trial

hasn't dragged them down too much. Having one more location to

find Metallica’s full catalogue might

not win you over if youre not already

a Metallica fan, but Hardwired... to

Self-Destruct is a solid album, and

it’s definitely worth a (legal) listen.

A i De ah de Led | . s eo I iota iar ky | 3 4 _ 7 i co 2 < oa) ° E vu xo =] de o vu a a oO mme

featured Nobel laureates, prison inmates, and world-famous poets, authors,

and public speakers. The Moth has

been growing rapidly since its release, and has been active as a community builder in coffee shops, venues,

and high schools around the world, bringing the power of physical, human storytelling to anyone willing to listen.