A little over a week ago, Metallica was set to release their latest project Death Magnetic to the world. Despite their infamous battles with Napster, the band seemed to have a different understanding of leaked albums than before (Ulrich on the possibility of a leak, "If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days"). Kind of hard to believe after they destroyed Napster? I thought so too...
Metallica recently canceled an interview with a Sweedish publication after one of their reporters admitted to downloading it online. Apparently, the reporter like the downloaded version better than the released version; the copy he downloaded had been altered by an online user by trimming songs down to shorter, more potent lengths. The reviewer liked the trimmed versions better and said that is what the real album should have been like.
If Metallica is truly okay with album leaks and the iterations that come with that, they could have used this situation as an opportunity to start a conversation with the reporter and the fans. They could have asked, "why did you like the other version of the album?" or "what could we do different next time?" Even if Metallica still thinks their physical album is the best (which apparently they do), they can still interact with music fans (which is who this reporter is) and media in the appropriate way, especially since the album is doing very well. This kind of reaction to inevitable (and frankly, encouraged) situations will only continue to push away fans, many of whom now use media in every area of their life.