Metallica’s albums had been previously available for download on MSN Music, but they had never been broken up into single-song purchases until now. The Metallica website says that the songs will be only available for download in the US and Canada because of a dispute with its overseas label, Mercury Records.
In 2001, Metallica settled a legal case against file-sharing service Napster for letting users download songs without permission.
Other major artists who have yet to work out an agreement with iTunes include Radiohead, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.
