Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich may have a shining future as an art dealer, having recently unloaded five paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat for millions of dollars apiece, but maybe he should reconsider his side career as an A&R man.

During an online chat last week on the band's Web site, Ulrich confirmed that he had folded his record label, the Music Company, an imprint distributed through Elektra.

One band Ulrich signed, Systematic, will find a new home at Elektra. Systematic's debut, Somewhere in Between, has sold almost 70,000 copies since its release in May 2000. The drummer's other acts, which fared far less well in sales, will find themselves on the street.

Ulrich started the Music Company in 1998 with former Metallica tour accountant Tim Duffy, but the label never captured the interest of Metallica's millions of fans.

The company's first signing, DDT, sold just over 4,000 copies of its April 1999 debut, Urban Observer. Goudie's first album, Peep Show, has sold just under 2,000 copies since July 2000, and Brand New Immortals' second record, Tragic Show, has sold a little over 4,500 copies since its release in June 2001.