Unveiling Metallica's Unexpected Journey: From Greatness to Successful Money-Makers

2023-08-19 17:35:02

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The once-great Metallica are now metal’s most shameless money-grabbers

On August 19 and 21, cinema-goers across the world will have the opportunity to watch a pair of Metallica concerts filmed “as live” a day earlier in front of a combined audience of more than 160,000 people at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In the UK, the price of entry for these concerts at Odeon picture-houses is £45 ($35) for both nights. Not too long ago, you could see the band in person for that kind of money.

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But not anymore. In the age of streaming, Metallica has compensated for a shortfall in royalties from traditional record sales by significantly increasing ticket prices. A two-night pass in a so-so seat for the San Franciscan quartet’s upcoming appearances at Soldier Field stadium, in Chicago, will set you back $380, plus a further $106.82 in booking fees. According to co-manager Peter Mensch, this remarkable hike in entry charges was orchestrated with “very little pushback” from the group’s loyal fans. (In 2022 it was estimated that Metallica had made a grand total of £1,219,599,179 from touring over the years, making them the top-grossing metal band of all time.)

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Long accustomed to innovative marketing strategies - such as allowing fans to vote for set-lists or performing their best-known albums in full - Metallica's current tactic is to play entirely different sets over the two nights they appear in each city.

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They might also have added (but didn’t) that their best-loved songs will be rigidly quarantined. So anyone wishing to hear Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman, for example, will be required to buy tickets for both concerts.

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All of which might be considered okay, in an expensive-night-out kind of way, were Metallica’s musical prowess not noticeably on the decline. Just last week, a fan compared mobile phone footage of Lars Ulrich making a horlicks of the double-bass drum runs in One to the flawless execution heard in downloadable versions of the same concert released days later. Metallica's representatives were contacted for comment on this discrepancy but did not respond. It's worth noting that Metallica has declined to acknowledge my existence since I reported an incident of Ulrich being accused of physically assaulting his personal assistant at 4 am in the lobby of the Metropolitan Hotel in London in 2008.

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