Commentary: METALLICA's Future At Warner May Be Short-Lived
May 28, 2008, 16 years ago
The following commentary is courtesy of David Wilson from Bloomberg.com:
Warner Music Group Corp.'s shareholders must be happy to see that METALLICA, one of the company's top-selling acts, is promoting an album that won't come out for at least four months. The feeling may not last too long.
Metallica introduced a website with "fly on the wall footage of writing and recording'' its ninth studio album, due in the US fall season. The San Francisco-based band has sold about 100 million copies of its recordings since 1981.
The pending release will be the last under Metallica's contract with Warner, which has put out its albums since 1984. Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman Jr. declined to comment on the status of talks with the band when the New York-based company held a quarterly conference call earlier this month.
Metallica's future at Warner may be short-lived. The band already sells recordings of its concerts over the Internet. The company lost MADONNA to Live Nation Inc., which signed her last year. Other popular artists, such as JAY-Z, NINE INCH NAILS and RADIOHEAD, have also abandoned major labels in this decade.
