Interest in Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ Up 1700% on Yousician Thanks to ‘Stranger Things’

Oops, Stranger Things did it again. After boosting Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” to the top of global charts thanks to its episode-spanning inclusion in season 4 of the Netflix monster-mashing mega-hit, the show has boosted international interest in another Reagan-era track via its 2-hour season finale.

In addition to a massive 400% increase in streaming for Metallica‘s 1986 Master of Puppets title track thanks to its inclusion in a pivotal scene in the show, guitar interactive and educational music site Yousician says that plays of “Master of Puppets” has increased more than 100% within the Finnish portal’s signature “Metallica x Yousician” course.

The site, which offers tutorials on learning and playing guitar, piano, ukulele and bass added in a statement that user requests for the metal classic on its guitar tuning and songwriting platform, GuitarTuna Play, have increased by 1,700% since July 1, making it the most-requested song addition of the month so far; “Master of Puppets” is not currently available on GuitarTuna Play, but the release said it is slated to hit the platform shortly.

In August 2021, Yousician launched its first-ever partnership series — a kind of “Master Class” for musicians — adding interactive elements via its real-time feedback technology for its initial slate of courses taught by Jason Mraz, Juanes and Metallica. All of Yousician’s artist deals include an upfront fee, licensing royalties and a revenue share model in which the acts are paid a percentage of revenue from customers who sign up for a Yousician subscription specifically to access the artist’s course.

Yousician launched the Metallica x Yousician collaboration in June, with three beginner-friendly courses in which guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett teach users how to play their favorite Metallica songs while sharing behind-the-scenes stories about the band’s career.

(Billboard)