In 2000, Metallica decided they didn’t like their music being available for free via file sharing giant Napster. They sued the file sharing service after finding “I Disappear” from Mission: Impossible 2 on there before it was even available to radio. While they were derided at the time, they won the lawsuit, and have been relatively tech-savvy since. They own their own label, and since 2012, have been available on Spotify. Now the streaming service is the only place to see Landmark – Metallica: The Early Years, a four-part documentary taking the band from their 1981 beginnings to 1984’s sophomore album, Ride the Lightning.
The documentary features interviews with the band, with Lars Ulrich describing how meeting Motorhead convinced him to form a band, and James Hetfield explaining how a deal with Metal Blade led to them allowing Lars into the band. It takes the viewers up to the No Life ‘Til Leather demo tape and their meeting with Cliff Burton. The only way to see the other three installments of the documentary are by having a paid subscription to Spotify, which should be as good a reason as any to subscribe. This is part of a new initiative to get people to subscribe to the service, as overseen by former radio and MTV exec Tom Calderone, who’s been at the company since March.
