Metric is a Canadian rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto. They have also at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles. The band consists of Emily Haines (lead vocals, synthesizers, guitar, tambourine, harmonica, piano), James Shaw (guitar, synthesizers, theremin, backing vocals), Joshua Winstead (bass, synthesizers, backing vocals) and Joules Scott-Key (drums, percussion).

The band started in 1998 as a duo formed by Haines and Shaw. Initially, the duo's name was Mainstream. After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric, after a sound that was programmed by Shaw on his keyboard in 1998. In 2001, Winstead and Scott-Key joined them.