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.
Watch a recent video from Metallica’s Kirk Hammett describing the band’s deal with the site below.
