APOLOGISE TO LARS November 07 2000 dotmusic.com RIAA asks Napster to make peace with Metallica Hilary Rosen, head of the Recording Industry Association of America, has asked Napster bosses to apologise to Metallica over the ridicule the band has suffered in recent months. In a supposedly private letter that has been circulating across Internet messageboards, Rosen describes Metallica as "my heroes" for defending their legal and moral rights in spite of huge criticism from MP3 fans. And, she says, in the light of Napster's deal with BMG Records parent company Bertelsmann, Metallica's position seems to have been justified. "I think the band and their team feel very undermined by the deal announced even though many of us support it", says the RIAA chief. Explaining why Metallica and their drummer-spokesman Lars Ulrich deserve an apology from either Napster CEO Hank Barry or founding programmer Shawn Fanning, Rosen accuses Napster of encouraging a negative portrayal of the band across the Web. "...You guys have fostered the abuse that Lars and the band have taken for standing up for their rights, rights which you have acknowledged in theory in the past but now have a financial interest in supporting since you are taking Bertelsmann's money." "Metallica took a stand on behalf of artists...They have been my heroes in this thing, and I am determined to make sure that if this thing turns out to benefit everyone, they are not left out." Although reported to have confirmed the letter as genuine, executives at the Recording Industry Association of America are mystified as to how the letter was made public. According to spokesman Doug Currie, "this was a private correspondence between Hilary and Hank Barry, not intended for the world to see." comment on this article e-mail this to a friend start a discussion [about i-drive] writing index thoughts dotmusic index Problems? Questions? Suggestions? Contact me: mail@tobyslater.com back to top back to home page

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