Metallica is launching its very own record label, Blackened Recordings, and has regained control of all its master tapes. The band apparently signed a sweetheart of a deal with the Warner Music Group back in 1994 wherein—effective Nov. 30, 2012—the group would own the rights to all its music and long-form videos. While that sounds totally reasonable (Why shouldn’t bands own their own songs, after all?), the vast majority of artists don't enjoy this privilege, making Metallica one of the luckiest groups around.
And because the band can’t just let WMG keep making money off their music, Metallica will eventually reissue all its recorded material—including videos “and anything else that suits them”—through Blackened. The first release will be Dec. 10’s Quebec Magnetic, a DVD of the band’s two World Magnetic live shows in Quebec in the fall of 2009, with a set list voted on by fans earlier this fall.