Christopher Breen , whose iPod- and iTunes - themed rumination ordinarily occupy this space , is currently bobbing around the Mediterranean Sea as part of the latest MacMania cruise . He ’s in for quite a seismic disturbance when he arrives back on dry land . After all , when Chris room the ms Noordam , he populate in a world where the heavy - alloy band Metallica banish the iTunes Music Store and its insurance policy of making individual tracks available for download . Now , when he returns to shore and fires up iTunes , the grizzled visages of Lars Ulrich and James Hetfieldwill be staring back at him .
I think the jar might peradventure drink down him .
As you probably know , Metallica has a colored history with online euphony . The dance orchestra had a memorable friction with Napster , back when that website made gratuitous — and illegal — copies of songs useable for download . When Apple launched the iTunes Music Store three eld ago , Metallica ’s absence was famed . The reason given at the time : iTunes shoppers could download individual tracks as well as concluded album . Metallica , a isthmus spokesman said , “ would rather not lead to the demise of the album format . ”
If you wanted to get a Metallica song at other on-line sites likeMTV ’s itch , you could — provided you bought the whole record album . That deepen Tuesday afterMetallica songs appeared in iTunes , give up you to pay 99 cents for a copy of“Enter Sandman”and make likeMariano Riverato your hearts cognitive content ; other medicine sites have since espouse suit .
Why this sudden variety of middle by the ring ? The announcement onMetallica ’s Web web site — which I would discourage against travel to if you favour language to be of the un - salty variety — is more or less vague .
So if I had to make a supposition as to the reasoning behind the move , it ’s that the member of Metallica dislike leave alone money on the table as much as you or I would .
As big a fuss as Tuesday ’s Metallica announcement make , it may not have been the most interesting development involving the iTunes Music Store . That came good manners of Warner Bros. , whichmade several TV shows available for purchase . Along with hits likeFriendsandBabylon 5 , Warner Bros. also released a single episode of the television receiver programAquaman .
Never heard of theAquamanTV serial ? That ’s because there is n’t one — or more accurately , there wo n’t be one . Warner Bros. filmed a pilot sequence with the Leslie Townes Hope that the television series would be pick up by a internet for the gloaming season — it was n’t . And now , accord toVariety , Aquamanbecomes the first instance of a run out cowcatcher being made useable for purchase .
studio make a pot of cowcatcher each year that , for one reason or another , do n’t get picked up by TV meshing . supply that the identification number of shows that are put on television system schedules , only to thread up cancelled with unaired installment gathering dust on somebody ’s shelf . I ca n’t help but think that the success ofAquamanat the iTunes Music Store — as I write this , it ’s theNo . 1 TV download — might make video executive rethink how they manage discarded shows . I ’m not suggesting that strike down program could be resuscitate with original substance farm solely for iTunes — the economics of TV yield just would n’t allow for that . But as a position for depositing unaired episodes , failed buffer , and other peculiarity — iTunes could serve that purposeverywell . It would also let TV studios to reimburse some money out of programming that would otherwise never see the Inner Light of day .
And as the members of Metallica will say you , it ’s a passel well making your own money with digital downloads than catch someone else do it .
