Damn, good for him! http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21741980-5006024,00.html Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails lets rip at ignorant record companies to NEALA JOHNSON ON stage at the Metro on Monday night, it seemed you're enjoying being a rock star again. True? It's funny you'd say that 'cos that was not one of my favourite shows. It went downhill at one point. Yeah. I enjoy playing these days. I try to make the most of it and sometimes it's great fun and sometimes, like Monday night when it was crippled with technical problems, it made it not fun. I couldn't hear what was going on, s--- was breaking . . . Fools in the crowd were yelling . . . Yeah, mixed feelings about that. I mean, if you want me to go off on a tangent . . . I'm kind of in a weird space right now. I'm not real centred. We've been touring for a long time. I went from the record right into the tour, nine weeks in Europe in winter, which I don't recommend in any circumstance for anybody. I'm moving. There's some stuff in my personal life that's up. It must be an odd time then to have a new album, Year Zero, out? It's a very odd time to be a musician on a major label, because there's so much resentment towards the record industry that it's hard to position yourself in a place with the fans where you don't look like a greedy *******. But at the same time, when our record came out I was disappointed at the number of people that actually bought it. If this had been 10 years ago I would think "Well, not that many people are into it. OK, that kinda sucks. Yeah I could point fingers but the blame would be with me, maybe I'm not relevant". But on this record, I know people have it and I know it's on everybody's iPods, but the climate is such that people don't buy it because it's easier to steal it. You're a bit of a computer geek. You must have been there, too? Oh, I understand that -- I steal music too, I'm not gonna say I don't. But it's tough not to resent people for doing it when you're the guy making the music, that would like to reap a benefit from that. On the other hand, you got record labels that are doing everything they can to piss people off and rip them off. I created a little issue down here because the first thing I did when I got to Sydney is I walk into HMV, the week the record's out, and I see it on the rack with a bunch of other releases. And every release I see: $21.99, $22.99, $24.99. And ours doesn't have a sticker on it. I look close and 'Oh, it's $34.99'. So I walk over to see our live DVD Beside You in Time, and I see that it's also priced six, seven, eight dollars more than every other disc on there. And I can't figure out why that would be. Did you have a word to anyone? Well, in Brisbane I end up meeting and greeting some record label people, who are pleasant enough, and one of them is a sales guy, so I say "Why is this the case?" He goes "Because your packaging is a lot more expensive". I know how much the packaging costs -- it costs me, not them, it costs me 83 cents more to have a CD with the colour-changing ink on it. I'm taking the hit on that, not them. So I said "Well, it doesn't cost $10 more". "Ah, well, you're right, it doesn't. Basically it's because we know you've got a core audience that's gonna buy whatever we put out, so we can charge more for that. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy it. True fans will pay whatever". And I just said "That's the most insulting thing I've heard. I've garnered a core audience that you feel it's OK to rip off? F--- you'. That's also why you don't see any label people here, 'cos I said 'F--- you people. Stay out of my f---ing show. If you wanna come, pay the ticket like anyone else. F--- you guys". They're thieves. I don't blame people for stealing music if this is the kind of s--- that they pull off. Where does that extra $10 on your album go? That money's not going into my pocket, I can promise you that. It's just these guys who have f---ed themselves out of a job essentially, that now take it out on ripping off the public. I've got a battle where I'm trying to put out quality material that matters and I've got fans that feel it's their right to steal it and I've got a company that's so bureaucratic and clumsy and ignorant and behind the times they don't know what to do, so they rip the people off. Given all that, do you have any idea how to approach the release of your next album? I've have one record left that I owe a major label, then I will never be seen in a situation like this again. If I could do what I want right now, I would put out my next album, you could download it from my site at as high a bit-rate as you want, pay $4 through PayPal. Come see the show and buy a T-shirt if you like it. I would put out a nicely packaged merchandise piece, if you want to own a physical thing. And it would come out the day that it's done in the studio, not this "Let's wait three months" bulls---. When your US label, Interscope, discovered the web-based alternate reality game (ARG) you'd built around Year Zero, were they happy for the free marketing or angry you hadn't let them in on it? I chose to do this on my own, at great financial expense to myself, because I knew they wouldn't understand what it is, for one. And secondly, I didn't want it coming from a place of marketing, I wanted it coming from a place that was pure to the project. It's a way to present the story and the backdrop, something I would be excited to find as a fan. I knew the minute I talked to someone at the record label about it, they would be looking at it in terms of "How can we tie this in with a mobile provider?" That's what they do. If something lent itself to that, OK, I'm not opposed to the idea of not losing a lot of money (laughs). But it would only be if it made sense. I've had to position myself as the irrational, stubborn, crazy artist. At the end of the day, I'm not out to sabotage my career, but quality matters, and integrity matters. Jumping through any hoop or taking advantage of any desperate situation that comes up just to sell a product is harmful. It is. Is the Year Zero ARG something labels will copy now? Well, their response, when they saw that it did catch on like wildfire, was "Look how smart we are the way we marketed this record". That's the feedback I've gotten -- other artists who've met with that label ask 'em about it: "Yeah, you like what we did for Trent? Look what we did for Trent". They've then gone on to try to buy the company that did it to apply it to all their other acts. So, glad I could help them out. I'm sure they still don't understand what it is that we did or why it worked. But I will look forward to the Black Eyed Peas ARG, that should be amazing. Year Zero (Universal) out now.
" I've have one record left that I owe a major label, then I will never be seen in a situation like this again. If I could do what I want right now, I would put out my next album, you could download it from my site at as high a bit-rate as you want, pay $4 through PayPal. Come see the show and buy a T-shirt if you like it. I would put out a nicely packaged merchandise piece, if you want to own a physical thing. And it would come out the day that it's done in the studio, not this "Let's wait three months" bulls---. " $4 through paypal?! I would jump on that every time!
I took a Business of Music class in college. The record companies put so many BS fees in the cost of the CD. Off hand I can tell you that record companies charge artists for a "breakage fee". It orginated when records were made from shellac and often broke in transport to record stores. So, in order to recoup the losses, the record companies accounted for this "fee" which resulted in less money to the artists. Now that we've gone through vinyl, 8-tracks, cassettes, and now CD's they still charge this "fee" even though CD's rarely (if ever) break during shipment. There's a million more little things like this that shortchange the artist and add to the cost of the CD. I could see maybe about the platic cracking, but alot of CD's now come in foldout cardboard packaging that is cheaper and more durable. The article mentions $0.83 for color changing CD ink? Who gives a crap? Once it goes into my CD player I can't see it. As a matter of fact, when I put it on my iPod I might never see the physical CD again. The only reason I really buy CD's are if I want to see the liner notes.
Right. I think it is $20 her in the states. And Cannonball is dead on accurate. The music industry stiffs the artists at every turn. The only reason some artists fought illegal downloading - most are still uncomfortable with it even thought they accept it as reality - was because they knew labels wouldn't take the major hit for it - they would. Labels have always passed costs on to the artists. Sux.
Naa, I got it the day it came out for $11.99. It's priced just like any other CD. This is why Trent Reznor is and always will be my favorite artist. He's not afraid to call people out when they are screwing the fans, whether it be the record label or other bands that put out crap.
Jazz artist Maria Shneider won a GRAMMY for an album she released only via download through her website. She also made more money from it than she had with any album she had released through a record company. Granted, it's jazz and doesn't have the demand that pop/rock does. But if an artist or group already had a following, they could probably make more money through digital distribution than through traditional means.
It's the way of the future without a doubt. On a related note, I read a letter today from a guy who is the brother of a recording artist. He said she has had a couple #1's and has been nominated for a Grammy. She was going out on the road doing a radio promotional tour when the label contacted her saying they were getting reports she didn't look good enough to the stations and that she better "pile on the makeup." In addition, the label offers her no other support and in an effort to improve, they've been trying to re-design her website but no one at the label knows how to gain access to the domain even though they own it. Labels suck.
Great interview, and it's exactly the kind of reason it is hard to just take the record labels' side when it comes to this stuff.
Whatever the price I still think this is more of a marketing ploy than real outrage at his record company.
Without the labels, they would have never been discovered or had a following. People underestimate the marketing power of the labels. That being said, once you have established yourself or your group, there is NO reason at all to stay at the label. The problem with the internet is to be heard above the noise....millions of sites, driving foot traffic to your site is difficult, and needs a well thought out marketing plan. We have the same issue in the video games industry with our publishers, they have a choke hold on the money and content.....and just like labels they suck. But, IMO most artists don't have that marketing/business capability, which is why Labels/publishers are a necessary evil.....today at least. DD
I'm a little skeptical as well. You just never know these days. Everything is so calculated. Everything.
Not any longer... The reality is that labels are no longer in the "discovering artists" business. They've given that up in favor of owning back catalogs of formerly popular artists. It makes more financial sense to sell Bob Dylan's material than it does to try and find the NEXT Dylan, which would be pointless since arguably the finest songwriter of the last 40 years would never make it past being laughed out of the auditions of American Idol. Today's music is no longer about big budgets and selling millions. The days of hoping to sell platinum or diamond records are over. Today, it's about niche and finding an audience that is loyal to the artist, not the song or the hype. The RIAA's biggest failing wasn't its persecution of downloaders or its mass marketing machine. They have failed because they got away from what sustained the popular music business for 40 years - discovering and developing great talent, who could write great songs. Look at AI last night. They've got Carrie Underwood up there absolutely BELTING out She's Leaving Home. Here's the problem. That song isn't about defiance. It's about a girl who is sad, lonely and frustrated with life at home, so she's creeping out the window in the middle of the night leaving her weeping parents behind. That wasn't about the perfomer or the song, it was about the marriage of the two. Today's industry is so focused on celebrity, it forgot that 18-year-olds may be pretty to look at, but they are about as deep as a parking lot puddle after a rainstorm. Most great rock artists need time to develop. They have to make crappy music in order to get to the good stuff. It takes a few records, some touring and lots of soul searching to find their voice. The music business wants hits and they want them now. Only, those hits are so shallow and weak, they have to work doubly hard just to get people interesting in them tying them to every product, movie and tv show they can while paying to get them overplayed on commercial radio, which is dying just as quickly. They got it exactly backwards. They bought up the catalogs of great artists to save them from having to spend the time and money to develop great artists. They mortgaged their own future and the future of popular music to make shareholders happy and line their pockets. The music industry is rapidly moving back towards the model that started - small, niche labels developing slowly emerging artists who play to loyal followings that help them develop their music over time. With a saturated media marketplace, trying to sell a million records or be a rock star is irrelevant. It's about crafting a career for yourself with your art and that's more about connecting with people and being great at what you do than it is about hits and hype.
If Dylan was on American Idol singing covers, he most definitely would be laughed off stage. That's why I'm hopeful this next season does well. This years AI was stale. It will be very interesting to see how this coming year does, especially since all bands are welcome to audition with any genre of music.
