nine inch nails

[mogwai]

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails

May 17, 2007 12:00am

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 asshole. 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.

[Pubrick]

But I will look forward to the Black Eyed Peas ARG, that should be amazing.

good interview. good to hear the melbourne show had problems. ha sucked in.

[MacGuffin]

Trent Reznor nails trilogy plan
Source: Herald Sun

DURING his big old – and brilliant – whinge to Hit last week, Trent Reznor also managed to squeeze in a bit about Nine Inch Nails' music.

Reznor positioned the new NIN album, Year Zero, as the first in a trilogy, but says he has been sidetracked from the second instalment.

"I wrote myself into a corner because I saw Year Zero as part one of something," he says.

"But some interesting things have come up in terms of turning this into another format of entertainment, like a television show or a movie. I've had some meetings with A-list people I'm interested in possibly working with.

"But it interjects a narrative into it that, if this is all going to make sense, it affects the second musical part of it. Or not. It depends on how closely I want the puzzle to go.

"I haven't written any new music for this yet, I literally haven't had a second to do that. That's what I'm doing when I get home. But I don't expect it to sound like Year Zero did. It won't be another 15 songs from that same vibe."

Nine Inch Nails return to Sydney in September to play rescheduled shows, postponed due to illness. No word yet on whether they will add Melbourne dates.

[cron]

i was at a department store with my dad and i was passing by next to the music section and i saw 'the fragile' cd from a distance and felt sad.
santa claus is your parents sad.

[MacGuffin]

FRom MTV:

Nine Inch Nails have surreptitiously revealed on their Web site that a Year Zero remix album, Y34R Z3R0 R3M1X3D, is in the works.

[RegularKarate]

Y34R Z3R0 R3M1X3D

64Y

[mogwai]

More remix album details emerge

Mike Finke and Jason Lynes both mention an article at Pitchfork (whom I generally avoid linking to anymore) where they say "it looks like this thing is actually going to be pretty fuckin' awesome." I'll save you the trouble of visiting their website and rehash.

They touch on Bill Laswell's wicked remix of Vessel, name the two Ladytron mixes that are slated for the album, rehash that The Faint are taking on Meet Your Master, and bring news that Fennesz is contributing a remix, Sam Fogarino from Interpol is remixing The Good Soldier.

New Order's Stephen Morris has his hands on a track, The Knife's Olof Dreijer is remixing a track, as is Saul Williams, and while they mention Paul Epworth (Phones) and Switch as shit-hot producers, they apparently haven't heard Switch's abysmal 'Gonzo Midget Gay Porn Orgy' remix of Capital G. The Phones 666 RPM mix, that's not so bad. Both were available via a UK promo around the time Capital G was released as a vinyl single.

On top of all that, Kerrang mentioned the possibility of fan remixes showing up on this album. There was a rumor on ETS about a September 25th release date, but from what we hear, this was something put out by Interscope without really running it past, you know, that one guy, Trent Reznor. Still, with artwork having been posted, and more track information coming out of the woodwork, it's probably not too much longer til we get to hear the remix album, and it's looking more and more like it's going to be a really good one.

http://www.theninhotline.net/news/index.php

[Stefen]

It's sad watching Trent try to hang on and stay relevant.

8 years ago, around the time Fragile came out, he was doing everything he could to try and stay away from the nu-metal genre, but now, it's like he'd give his life to be a part of it, but that genre is dead, but he's trying his hardest to bring it back.

I pray for a Reznor/Durst collabo!

[bonanzataz]

It's sad watching Trent try to hang on and stay relevant.

8 years ago, around the time Fragile came out, he was doing everything he could to try and stay away from the nu-metal genre, but now, it's like he'd give his life to be a part of it, but that genre is dead, but he's trying his hardest to bring it back.

I pray for a Reznor/Durst collabo!

nu-metal? are you out of your fucking mind?! have you listened to the album?

[Stefen]

No.

[mogwai]

30 minutes of nine inch nails recent performance at the recent reading festival



and some weird dude posted a vintage video of trent destroying a keyboard (self destruct era)

[mogwai]

don't mess with trent reznor (and aaron north and jeordie white for that matter):

part 1


part 2

[davidchili]

don't mess with trent reznor (and aaron north and jeordie white for that matter):

Ok, now I know how NIN chinses tour would end up being

[MacGuffin]

Trent Reznor on CD prices
Source: Los Angeles Times

I don't know what his contract with Universal's Interscope Records provides, but I suspect that Trent Reznor doesn't hold the copyrights to his band's latest album (Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails). So I'd be surprised if he could legally authorize fans to "steal it," as he instructed attendees at a recent concert in Sydney, Australia. But he does have a certain moral authority on the subject. It is his work, after all. And he has a legitimate beef about the price of CDs Down Under. HMV sells Year Zero for a stunning AU $32.99, which converts to about $28 here. You can blame the lousy exchange rate for part of the sticker shock, but not all of it.

Reznor's eagerness to share the record with fans hasn't been confined to Australia, however. To promote the album, he leaked three tracks as MP3s, fully intending them to be passed around online. At the time he said the freebies were an attempt to boost sales, not crater them. Although his comments in Australia go further, they are in line with his previous remarks about the labels' greed and separation from music fans. In sum, his attitude speaks volumes about the growing problem for labels as established acts join newcomers in craving ears, not dollars, for their CDs.

Granted, it's a lot easier to part with CD revenue when you're capable of filling auditoriums at $75 a head, which is what it cost NIN fans to get into the 3,500 seat Hordern Pavilion. Nevertheless, a business model that trades CD revenues for ticket sales makes an increasing amount of sense even to veteran acts as the slide in CD sales deepens. No wonder Warner Music Group honcho Edgar Bronfman is so keen for "360-degree contracts" that would cut his labels in on tours, merch and other pots of revenue they don't share today.

[MacGuffin]

Trent Reznor is a free man. According to a post on Nine Inch Nails' Web site, he and his band have fulfilled their contractual obligations to Interscope. "I've waited a long time to be able to make the following announcement: As of right now, Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label," he said in the post. "I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate. Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008. Exciting times, indeed." NIN were signed to TVT prior to joining Interscope in 1994.