Rage Against Napster. Rage Apologizes

Fri., Dec. 8, 2000 4:45 PM PST by Mark Armstrong

Rage against the machine. Wait, no...not that machine!

Politically volatile rock group Rage Against the Machine raged against its new management this week, after the company and the band's record label, Sony Music, apparently booted Napster users caught downloading the band's new album, Renegades.

Rage guitarist Tom Morello responded quickly to the song-swapping hubbub Thursday, posting a message on the band's Website (www.ratm.com) to "sincerely apologize to all of our fans who were kicked off Napster for downloading Renegades."

Morello called the move a "horrible mistake" and said the band was not consulted before its management, Q Prime (which, coincidentally or not, also represents fierce anti-Napster rockers Metallica), cut off users caught with Rage tracks on their hard drives. Renegades, which hit stores Tuesday, features covers of songs from the likes of MC5, Cypress Hill and the Rolling Stones, among others.

"The move to take action against Rage fans was taken completely unilaterally by our new management," Morello wrote. "In their zeal to keep the record from getting out before the release date, they did not consult the band before instructing Sony Music Corp. to institute the Napster ban. As soon as I was made aware of this horrible mistake on their part, I immediately phoned our management and the record company to see what we could do to get our Napster-using fans reinstated as soon as possible."

Morello's posting appeared to quell some frustration among Rage fans, who had already begun lashing out against the band when they were cut off from the controversial file-sharing service. Those who had attempted to download Rage songs received a message that read, "Denied Access By Sony/Rage_Mach."

"Upon logging on to Napster today, I discovered that my account had been blocked because I had downloaded a [Rage] song," wrote one Napster user, going by the name, gwnpunk. "It surprised me that a so called 'anti-establishment' band would [care] about one person downloading one of their damned songs."

On Thursday, Morello not only apologized for the Napster ban, but he also provided suggestions to Rage fans who were booted from the service. "I'm told the easiest way to get back on Napster...is to download one of many files floating around on the Internet...like http://www.geocities.com/lorannia/de-ban.zip or http://www.webwowser.com/cyberdevil/personal/page.asp."

Q Prime is reportedly standing behind Morello's statement. Rage's label, Sony's Epic Records, has not commented on the matter.

Of course, if there are any managers who should be on their best behavior, it's those for Rage. The group has a long history of management shuffling: Last year, the group fired Bridgette Wright on the eve of the release of its last album, The Battle of Los Angeles. And in September, the group abruptly parted ways with two more managers--Gary Gersh and John Silva--in favor of Q Prime.

It's been a busy few months for the group. In October, frontman Zack de la Rocha announced he was splitting from the group, citing a failed "decision-making process." The band promptly vowed to "rock on," releasing the covers album and preparing a live album due out sometime next year.

Rage's remaining members--Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk--said they'll eventually begin looking for a new singer. Rumored candidates have included Public Enemy's Chuck D or Cypress Hill's B-Real, but Morello said recently that no decisions have been made.