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America’s famous metal rock group Metallica became infamous in the eyes of mp3 fans when they fought a protracted legal battle with Napster in 2000. This was when the program Napster was allowing people to download music from each other for free. However, when the Apple iTunes Music Store launched in 2003, the band stated that the downloading of songs would "contribute to the demise of the album format," and refused to allow their songs to be sold individually. However, just recently the band has relaxed that come into the modern age as Metallica songs are now available both on Napster and in the iTunes Music Store.

This seriousely dramatic shift in policy from the band members Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Robert Trujillo, and Lars Ulrich is said to be prompted by changes in the industry and watching the incredible number of songs sold by iTunes. Metallica's back catalog is now available on line for purchase and download and the band have added previously-unreleased tracks to their first four albums exclusively online for download.