Metallica catalog hits iTunes

Longtime digital music holdouts, who waged a public battle with Napster in 2000, jump into the digital music fray. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was once the poster child for the record industry's opposition to digital music technologies, particularly those that allowed users to download free music from the likes of the former Napster. Today, with both the illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing services Napster spawned and Apple's legal download store iTunes thriving, Metallica joined the digital music fray, licensing its entire back catalog to iTunes. "From the 'It's about f***ing time!' file, comes this," the band said in announcing the move. "Over the last year or so, we have seen an ever-growing number of Metallica fans using online sites like iTunes to get their music. So...we are now offering fans the opportunity to obtain our songs individually." Metallica's move to digital sales, and a move by Detroit rocker Bob Seger earlier this month, leaves only a few holdouts, most notably the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead. The Beatles and its Apple Corps record company have engaged in a long standoff with Apple over the use of the apple logo and Apple's ability to sell music. A British court ruled in favor of Apple in that dispute in May.

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