I seriously doubt MS can get all of the music lables that Apple has anyway. Isn't there some kind of contract?

And am I the only one that misses the newest Toby Keith albums? ... I guess so, friggin rap 'music'.

I don't listen to either of these groups, so I could care less.

Get a f'ing clue. Let me, the buyer, decide how I want to listen to your music. If I can't get your music through iTMS, then I'll get it some other way (and I don't mean Best Buy)

Didn't The Red Hot Chili Peppers come out with an Album called "What Hits" which was a compilation of there better known songs? You tell me, was that being "Creative" or "Financial"?

These guys, of course, have every right to do what they wish with their music. At least THEY have a choice! I expect many lesser known acts weren't powerful enough to negotiate that right with their record company...so the record company makes the choice and they have little to no say in the matter.

It is unfortunate for these guys, however, that they don't seem to understand that their world has permanently changed, for better or for worse, and there is NOTHING they can do to alter the consumer's ability to digitize music. So if they were REALLY thinking people, they'd spend their energy finding a way to work with this new world in a way that advantages them.

The iTunes Store is their best opportunity yet to 'work with' the new reality, but these guys are still resisting. The Free Market will sort this out for them.

Pillagers of creative thought! Suppressors of musical talent! Corporate leeches draining the lifeblood of musicians!

Shame!Shame!Shame!Shame!Shame!Shame!Shame!Shame!Shame!

Metallica and RHCP are nothing more than corporate toadies wallowing in the RIAA's disgusting shitwagon!

Corporate cocksmokers do nothing but serve the lemmings their dinner!

Help carve the RIAA a new a******! Pirate MP3's today!!

Well, I was actually waiting for Metallica on the iTunes Music Store, but I will not purchase their music out of protest. I don't believe CD's have seen their day and won't for long while, but I do believe sales while shift somewhat. I am always amazed at who many people are computer illiterate, but I am also amazed at how many people who seem to know something about computer don't understand that the vast majority, of even Americans, don't really know how to use a computer, sure they can check email, or use word, but run into a problem or try and do something truly creative or productive, finding and using these tools available to them, forget it.

Well, if the music i want to hear is not on iTunes, I find my music another way.... and like an ealier post... it is not best buy or a music store.... it is limewire or the likes. As soon as the music pops on to iTunes music store I buy it.
So it basically boils down to this.... your music WILL be stolen and you get 0 dollars, or you can put music on iTunes and have a legal dital method of selling your music.
I must add that artists should not b**** about their music being pirated digitally if they are not willing to have a channel of sell their music digitally. you put it out there and people will buy it legally... it just has to be simple and easy to get. iTunes store has done that IMHO.

If Metallica and other bands are so concerned about preserving the entity known as an "album", maybe they should put out albums that have more than one or two listenable tracks?

But it's OK for ClearChannel corporate rock radio to diminsh someone's "artistic vision" by playing single tracks? Just ducky for eMpTV to play fractions of a single video while pea-brained teenagers gush their adoration?

What a load of B$. Every time I think I'm starting to develop a conscience about download music for free off of the Internet, something like this comes along.

I agree with the prior poster that it's disappointing to see RHCP involved in this. I held them in higher regard for some reason. As for Metallica, they're just maintaining their position at the forefront of the music industry's headlong charge over the cliff of obsolescence.

let's see - the two bands mentioend are handled by the same agent... looks to me like its the agent who made sure this happened - protecting their bottom line as well as the bands' - as far as the 'album' concept goes - they left that track a loooong time ago - partially by forcing us to purchase 5" packages, no longer suitable for the art that was on phonograph jackets - i mean really - did the stones put a functioning zipper on a jewel case? no. funny thet the first US cd was a photo of a pair of jeans as well, only it was from the back, no zipper please...

and as for these two bands - the 'album concept' can be applied to one of two situations (1) the album HAS a concept - such as the wall, quadrophenia, apollo 18, willie nelson's stardust, ziggy stardust, letters never sent, etc... or (2) the album otherwise hangs together either because the music was across the board good or you can't imagine not hearing them together like abbey road, sgt pepper, deja vu, yellow brick road, born to run, graceland...

These guys slap an album together that get one maybe two tracks into general release, the rest is popped out according to a formula. Some of my favorite bands do the same thing, then redeem themselves with albums - what Aerosmith albums I don't already own, I buy now track by track. Love the guys - love their stuff, but not 100% of every album. I have a choice now. But I would rather have pump entirely. Ditto the Police, Doors, No Doubt... etc...

They'll see the light

I must of been underground ... oh wait, who cares about an itty bitty _hitty band?

It's truly going to be a paradign shift where CD's will be phased out and you'll transfer an iPod between the house and the car.

Long live Radio! It's the only media that will stay the same??????

Am I wrong or did Apple already *say* that labels can choose to only allow purchasing an entire album rather than individual tracks? I know that there were some "album only" selections.

Is this a case of the bands just not being informed or are they boycotting any service that allows individual soung downloads at all? Either way they look stupid.

"Long live Radio! It's the only media that will stay the same??????"

Stay the same?!?! It's increasingly become c*** over the years.

f*** em. They've always been overrated anyway.

"Pirate MP3's today!!"
Yeah, that'll help the artists. Ya know, theft is theft. You're gettin ripped by Nike, Coca Cola, your local grocer, Ford, Chevy, you name it. 300 (THREE HUNDRED!) of the wealthiest people in the world have a combined wealth that exceeds the combined wealth of 3 BILLION of the earth's poorest, that's half the earth's population. It's screwed up everywhere, the system sucks. So if you're going to make a f*cking statement then have the balls to steal everything but get off the RIAA, they are no worse than anyone else. Walk into your local grocer and load up and walk out, tell 'em you're tired of being ripped off. Drive a car off the lot, pick up a new pair of nike's and walk out the door. Same thing, theft is theft whether you agree with the world or not, you have NO right to steal. You do have the right to not buy or listen to any music to make your statement, or not buy nike's or cars or food, but you have NO RIGHT TO STEAL!

The iTunes Music Store already has Album Only tracks. I haven't seen that many, but they are out there. Generally when I've seen it, it is the radio hit that's listed as Album Only, while all the other filler material can be purchased as individual tracks.

If these bands are so worried about their "album" sales, they can simply use that approach. As it stands now they sound like a bunch of whining little b*tches.

From Rolling Stone: "Certain songs might not fit on radio for one reason or another but are just as important an artistic statement," say Marc Reiter of Q-Prime, the management company that handles the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Garbage -- all of whom are keeping their songs offline. "We refuse to kowtow to the fact that it's a singles market for downloads."

What a load of garbage....stick you head in the sand mentality.
You can refuse all you want...the train is leaving the station....better get on board.....
http://www.qprime.com has basically gone off-line.....guess once the fervor dies down, they'll put it back up.

From Rolling Stone: "Certain songs might not fit on radio for one reason or another but are just as important an artistic statement," say Marc Reiter of Q-Prime, the management company that handles the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Garbage -- all of whom are keeping their songs offline. "We refuse to kowtow to the fact that it's a singles market for downloads."

What a load of garbage....stick you head in the sand mentality.
You can refuse all you want...the train is leaving the station....better get on board.....
http://www.qprime.com has basically gone off-line.....guess once the fervor dies down, they'll put it back up.

Its silly for anyone in the record industry to say that all the artists only want to release full CD's. At any given time in the 100-year old recording industry, the physical format has dictated what is produced and distributed. When LP's replaced 78's artists were able to put more on each release, so they did. CD's extended this to over an hour and eliminated the need to reorder tracks into 23 minute sides. Now with internet delivery, an artist can choose to release just 1 song, unlrelated to any "album". If they want, they can release collections of 3 songs, 10 songs, or even 100 songs. The problem that record companies have with this, is it messes up thier "5-album contract" that they use to put the chokehold on new artists.

These issues will eventually be resolved, and the creatively-limiting "album" format will eventualy fade away.

The artists consider the whole album to be representative of their career/accomplishments/expressiveness/creativity at that point in time? Proof once again that 90% of everything is c***.

I'll gladly buy an entire album if I like everything on it. But outside of some greatest hits albums, classical music and soundtracks it has only happened in an extremely limited number (single digit) of cases for me. The iTMS is the perfect vehicle to get music to me as I seek the tunes I like with no blind devotion to particular artists. When I find a tune a like by an artist who's not already somewhere in my collection, I immediately check out everything else that artist has to offer, buy where warranted, and put them on my list to monitor for future releases. Other folks like to collect everything a group does. I'm cool with that, it's just not the way I do it. The beauty of the iTMS is that it caters to music buyers like me, my exact opposites, and everyone anywhere else on the music buying spectrum. I agree that the market will settle this. In the meantime, all you artists need to do is release songs I like and I'll buy them.

there are many great theme albums out there, beck's latest is about a lost love and it holds together as a piece of art. even tho there are songs i like more than others it's the concept that works. of course many people only want "hits". if the music industry is reduced to hits then the industry will be nothing more than what tin pan alley was, a factory for putting out catchy little tunes that everyone wants. the entire "art" of the album will disappear. the artist will disappear. beck, who hasn't had a major radio hit in years, will no longer be allowed to create an album as personal and artistic as he has. regardless of the artist (save me the beck sucks posts) a music industry that caters to nothing more than the sway of pop culture will be one that i wouldn't much enjoy.

...anyone getting wet in the history books that the artistic visions of James Hetfield and Anthony Kiedis were cut down in their primes by the iTunes Music Store. I'll buy lunch for anyone who can walk out on the main street and get more than 5% of passersby to correctly identify either of those two names.

What? No Red Hot Chili Peppers? Do they promise? I hate them anyway! They totally suck! I was however very happy to see The Calling arive on the music store. They're awesome!

If the 'artists' don't want to sell singles on iTunes becuase they want to preserve the album then WHY THE h*** do they release singles to radio stations... Seems weird to me...

If the artist/label doesn't want to release singles anymore, thats completely up to them. Nevermind that they throw all this money at companies like clearchannel that do nothing but push singles. So oddly, the main paid advertisement for their music is in singles, yet they refuse to sell them. Oh well.

Personally, i'll be happy when the rock superstar is extinct. 'Musician' will become just another profession, and only the truly good ones will make any real money.

"300 (THREE HUNDRED!) of the wealthiest people in the world have a combined wealth that exceeds the combined wealth of 3 BILLION of the earth's poorest, that's half the earth's population."

Thanks you blabbering hippie! Yep the system sucks, blah blah blah.

Face reality. There will always be rich and there will always be poor. There's no getting around that. No matter how many programs or how many governments come into power, this will always happen.

As for you slamming companies, I bet the shirt on your back came from some unpaid laborer in a third world country! Really, look at what you indeed use on a daily basis and you're as guilty as the rest of us.

Spare us your lofty, utopian views.

... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Lars Ultrarich... you're an idiot!! Why don't you guys just do a cover album of Britney Spears tunes if you're looking to quickly kill your music careers?!

"If Metallica and other bands are so concerned about preserving the entity known as an "album", maybe they should put out albums that have more than one or two listenable tracks?"

Or maybe they should just make new albums. A quick check at allmusic.com tells me they've only made three albums of original material in the last fifteen years. Maybe they should hire Axl Rose.

metallicas new albumn is so bad, they dont want people to preview any of the tracks. i was so upset when i actually bought there new albumn. I was hoping they would redeem themselves but it didnt happen. iTunes will miss nothing by not have Metalica on their store.

> Thanks you blabbering hippie! Yep the system sucks, blah blah blah.

Talk about blabbering... You sound just as bad. The system does largely suck. It's not that some people are rich and others are not, it's *how* they get rich. Many (granted not all) rich people have gotten their riches at the expense of someone else, because many of the laws are written and controlled by the wealthy. People are getting laid off and shareholders are getting swindled left and right while CEOs continue to make millions. Every time there is a new administration the laws change. What Bush and Co. are doing is outright unethical financial and institutional rape, all in the guise of patriotic rubbish (who's pockets do you think the 80+ billion dollars to carry out a questionable war went?) That's why there are others that work very hard to pass laws against unlimited control and power. If you don't think that greedy people are taking advantage of the weak, then you are the one living in a fantasy world. There are laws against illegal monopolies and financial abuse. Just look at the news - the bad people do get caught every once in a while, though IMHO not nearly often enough. The system should be more representative than it is - right now it is too easy for the greedy to get laws passed that only benefit them. Of the People, For the People, By the People. Or do you think that is just hippy, unpatriotic blabbering also? Spare *us* your brainwashed, impertinent and arrogant views.

It is kinda sad really. Three of the best albums of my generation. Blood Sugar s** Magic, ...And Justice For All, Achtung Baby, that two out of three of these groups are being complete whiners. It hurts me to say that.. I loved Metallica. They kicked a**, that is untill Bob Rock(Producer) showed up and made them popular, Lars became his truer, greedy self, and their Musical quility went in the toilet(Funny that the album was called "Load"). IT is kinda Ironic that their new album is actually good. I would actually buy it. The whole thing. I would prefer to support the Online model, to help get it up and running once and for all. But with these crybabies, geez. Now I know why Jason Newsted left the band. He is the only one that I respesct. OK , Hetfield, cuz he dealt with his demons and got clean and Sober. Ok Kirk, is Ok too, he always seems humble and nice in interviews. So I guess it all comes down to Lars. Lars is the a**. But remeber It is his band, he started it. So in protest, no St. Anger for me untill it is online, Legally of course. Wouldn't want Lars to hunt me down and.....sue me....talk about going out like a weenie.

But RHCP is kinda suprising, Maybe it is mangement. It is a shame for them too, cuz they had their problems and have really come out the better. thier music is tight. I still have a problem when I play BSSM and have to stop it before it is all done. It is THAT good of an album, not just a collection of songs. All Chili Pepper fand need to email them to tell their manager to shut the F**k UP and get all of their music on iTunes as fast as they can.

Of the three, Only U2 has been at the forefront of all this. That is because the are at the forefront of everything. When everything was going "Pop"-ey with the 'n Sync, Britney, bubble-gum crowd in the late '90's what did they do? They made a farce of it all, with "Pop". They dont seem at least to spend their time coutning their Irish Pounds in their Swiss bank accounts. They go and make more great music. At least they give their fans choice. That is what this is all about. People in power(read that RIAA) hate choice. All these bands Metallica, RHCP, Green Day and others will wake up to the digital future. Hopefully it will not have left them behind.

the bands' arguments. Although forcing sales of albums does mean that bands can produce albums with only 1 or 2 good songs and collect money for 10, I think it would be disconcerting if pop musicians discovered that the only way to make money is to write formulaic 2-3 minute jingles for popular culture. That's sort of what they do now, BTW.

Anyway, the guarantee of a whole sale for an album that subjectively can contain only one or two good songs does give the artist more freedom to push the envelope even if the results are unsatisfactory.

There is no effin way in heck that I am going to buy a bunch of "filler" songs just to get that 1 good song I'm looking for. Those days are over. I'll use Kaaza or some other means to get the song I want.

- Mark

mothers milk was the best rhcp album. i have it. digitized. no big deal. these dudes are mad stupid for not allowing there stuff to be available on itms. they truly are missing out. fat mike from nofx should have a word with billy joe from greenday. fat wreck chords' entire library is gonna be on itms in a few months. all bad religion stuff is on there. why do greenday think they are any better? morons with ego's - pathetica.

I'm ashamed to say that I used to like Metallica. After the Napster fiasco, I lost all respect for them. You either walk the walk and talk the talk or you STFU.

Being a 40 yo metalhead sucks when you have the maturity to see through the bullshit that some bands thrive on. Now, if ITMS would only drop that bullshit "partial album" c***. I want the whole taco, not part of the album.

"Thanks you blabbering hippie! Yep the system sucks, blah blah blah."
what the f*ck does your rant have to do with stealing?
careful now, i don't much take to you keyboard cowboys with your keyboard courage. you want to call names then be man enough to do it to my face. if you don't have those kind of balls then shut the f*ck up. if you do let me how to contact you and we'll check out your courage. clear enough?

Man, when will damned musicians learn!

I don't buy albums anymore because I am tired of filler material with the few good songs (usually whihc become the singles) in the midst of it all.

This is one of the key bad attitudes of those IN the music industry that lead to wide-spread music piracy in the first place! You heard a song on the radio liked it, but didn't want to buy the whole album because you found out you just like that song period.

Cripes! Apple has finally figured out a way to allow people to purchase what they want and the big labels and there artists STILL benefit and you have a few whiny lil b****** complaining about it. Choice to Metallica, Linkin Park, Green Day and any other whiners: singles still equal $$, would you rather you get SOME cash for your singles, or nothing at all because people post them as MP3's? Think!

...by the way, if I hear Metallica whine one more time...!

Since RHCP and Metallica haven't been "cool" in 10+ years anyway, who cares???

Ruins the entire album listening experience. St. Anger certainly didn't get any better after the first track.

"We can't let a distributor dictate the way our artists sell their music," Reiter said

Wait, isn't that what the record companies do right now? They s**** new/talented artists. These guys have to get a clue.

Can you say HASBEEN?

"But it's OK for ClearChannel corporate rock radio to diminsh someone's "artistic vision" by playing single tracks? Just ducky for eMpTV to play fractions of a single video while pea-brained teenagers gush their adoration? What a load of B$. Every time I think I'm starting to develop a conscience about download music for free off of the Internet, something like this comes along."

If you think ClearChannel has the power to just play any track it wants you are wrong. As long as the music industry is padding their pockets with $$$$, ClearChannel will play the EXACT track the label and the artist wants them to. The music industry invests a lot of $$$ and energy to get certain tracks played at pre-determined times with the promotional plan, all of which is agreed upon by the artist. The last time radio played anything it wanted was the 70's.

You will notice other artists, like Madonna, are not on the iTunes Music Store. Doesn't matter how big you are, if the artist doesn't want their stuff available then we won't see it...for now. I agree with others that once they learn the public doesn't buy their little hissy fit (or tired filler tracks), they'll come around.

...comment made here that makes sense, and I quote: "Help carve the RIAA a new a******! Pirate MP3's today!!"

Metalliwho? They should have called themselves "Status Quo", and the Red Hot Chillie Peppers shoudl drop the "Red Hot", so eighties.

#uckers.

Long Live Apple and the ITMS!

Seems to me that Metallica and the RHCP's are indicative of groups that will go the way of the dinosaur. Just like the sacred 'LP's' they're out to protect. ;-)

The music industry is in SERIOUS need of a reality check. Apple's helping to define the way we'll buy music in the future. If their music's not there - we won't buy their music. Good ridance to backward buttheads, I say. ;-)

Listen you all, it's the RIAA who really is to blame for the mess the music industry is in. They promote bands like Metallica and RHCP because their members are good little boy scouts and they don't rock the boat.

The real rebels are left to wither in obscurity, and their music with them. Only when they totally sellout will they ever reach the lofty heights and dollars of the hitmakers.

I agree that ITMS is a good step in the right direction, but it's not far enough. The artists are not hurt when MP3's are pirated because they've already been paid. They get royalties from radio stations and TV, and they get coin from tours. The RIAA is who gets hurt from MP3 pirating and they are the ones who need mucho paino!

And never mind this holier than thou "thou shalt not steal" c***. It's an eye for an eye, bucko. The RIAA has been raping artists for years, and the only ones who can put an end to the madness is the consumer. Try helping the artists and don't s*** your pants when you get something for free. You can buy all this music in the future when bands are self-marketing and write many apologetic letters to atone for your sins.

Stop buying CD's, and the RIAA is powerless. Bands will discover that by marketing their own music, they actually make more money and more of them will find that their music reaches more people, all because they can market their good songs and target the people who they want.

It's time for the consumers to get their heads out of their asses and use the power they have to remove these RIAA corporate b*******.

George Lucas will not let you buy a single DVD. You have to buy all six parts of Star Wars or all four (including upcoming) parts of Indiana Jones. And Harry Potter books will only be sold in sets of five.

First, have any of you actually gone into iTunes and typed in a search for 'Green Day'. I dont know what the author of the article is talking about but I see plenty of Green Day songs all for individual 99 cent downloads.

As for RHCP and Metallic...wah wah wah! bye bye losers!

turns up "Points of Authority" by Linkin Park...well...well...

If these bands are so hung up about keeping their albums together, why don't they just release one long track with all the songs in it? Then when they realize how dorky that is, they will hopefully come to their senses! Seriously, these guys need to get a grip. Even symphonies can be purchased by the track at iTunes. If I bought only the third movement of Beethoven's 5th, I'd be an idiot. So what? Should no one be allowed to listen to Beethoven just because someone like me might exist? Oh...and symphonies these ain't!

No, these are definitley not symphonies. I wonder, has anyone in Metallicock ever gotten past Grade One of music training? Talk about the baying of the hounds!