Metallica and Napster in Bed Together?

It was reported yesterday that Metallica has finally ended its long-suffered battle with Napster, among others, allowing nearly the entire catalog to be sold online.

ABC News has a fairly short and uninformative piece regarding the issue.

Eh.

I mean, honestly I'm thinking, "Finally!" It's almost such a non-issue now that I wonder why people are even reporting it. Well, other than the seriously damaging and entangled battle in 2000 over the whole thing.

But, it's also kind of strange that Dr. Dre hasn't been mentioned in any of this. His music is available for download, has been, but he was involved in the Napster-hunt of 2000 alongside Metallica, and nobody really rags on him. Is it because Dr. Dre never came out and publicly made an ass of himself? Perhaps. But I just thought that it should be pointed out, at least.

Also, for those of you who think the band is filled with Luddites who'd rather wear leather and have its music released in the form of a dubbed tape - which it may - just realize that Metallica is not the last band to fall into the iTunes revolution.

Here are a few others: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Tool, Kid Rock(?), and Bob Seger.

Personally, I think it was a stupid, pride-driven decision to wait this long. However, look at how much publicity the band has gotten, including a blurb in the most recent issue of Rolling Stone.

In the words of Adam Sandler, "...Not too Shabby."