Lars Ulrich may be used to fighting the downloading debate, but not like this. U.K. anarchists Chumbawamba have sampled his band Metallica, along with other file sharing opponents Eminem, Dr. Dre and Madonna, without permission for a song that makes a bold, if legally dubious, statement, "Pass it Along [MP3 mix]."

Available on www.chumba.com, the remix version of the song, originally found on the band's What You See Is What You Get, features snippets from Metallica's "Enter Sandman," Madonna's "Justify My Love," Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" as well as choice lines from Elvis' "Blue Suede Shoes" ("It's one for the money") and the Beatles ' "Money" ("The best things in life are free"). In addition to the musicians, the song also features the voices of Lars Ulrich, Noam Chomsky and Jello Biafra.

Chumbwamba says that the remix is a reaction to the idea that file sharing is somehow damaging to music. "What? Killing music the way that home taping killed music in the Seventies? It's not passing around music around for free which is killing music," vocalist Dunstan Bruce said in a statement. "No, it's the industry which is stifling creativity by only thinking in terms of dollars and pounds. This is about commerce rather than art or integrity."

As for those artists sampled who might object to their work being used without permission, Bruce says that's what Chumbawamba is trying to draw attention to -- mega-successful musicians looking at art only in terms of its profitability.

"When Metallica's Lars Ulrich said that he was objecting to his art being traded like a commodity, he was lying," Bruce said. "What Ulrich was objecting was his art NOT being traded like a commodity from which he could reap the lion's share of the profits. If Ulrich, Madonna and Eminem had never sold any records and were worried about entering a poverty-stricken old age, then their determination to stop their music being passed around would be understandable. But what we're seeing is some of the richest pop stars in the world making the biggest stink about not being able to screw every last penny from their adoring fans . . . It's difficult to read their statements as anything other than greed."

Bruce also took aim at the major record labels. "It's hilarious listening to the big record companies bleating on about how file sharing is damaging art," Bruce added. "They wouldn't recognize art or artistic integrity if they bounded over and bit them on the arse. Time Warner's President Richard Parsons recently said that young people no longer buy albums and a generation is growing up with the notion that music should be for free. The real truth is that record companies have been screwing the public for years and they're now terrified that they might lose the odd dollar here and there."

JENNIFER VINEYARD
(October 25, 2000)