No wonder people steal music.
Trent Reznor gets it. He gets that the record labels are scrambling for cash and are willing to screw over their customers to make a quick buck off of them. He gets that poHere’s an entry he recently made on the NIN site (Posted on 05/13/2007):
“As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:
- The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne’s record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US).By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: “It’s because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It’s the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.”So… I guess as a reward for being a “true fan” you get ripped off.
- The dreaded EURO Maxi-single. Nothing but a consumer rip-off that I’ve been talked into my whole career. No more.
The point is, I am trying my best to make sure the music and items NIN puts in the marketplace have value, substance and are worth you considering purchasing. I am not allowing Capital G to be repackaged into several configurations that result in you getting ripped off.
We are planning a full-length remix collection of substance that will be announced soon.”
- Trent Reznor
I’ve been a fan of Nine Inch Nails since 10th Grade1, when Eric Hartmann introduced me to The Downward Spiral. Over a decade later, I’m enjoying Nine Inch Nails even more. I didn’t have to buy Year Zero. When the album was released on the NIN website a week before its release, I was able to easily extract and convert the FLV audio files referenced in the audio player to DRM-free MP3s. The music was near CD-quality. I bought a copy of “Year Zero” anyway. Typically I get most of my music off of iTunes, but for NIN stuff, I make an exception. (Yes Ian and Patrick, CDs are better than digital downloads.) Trent Reznor respects his fans, and for that I’ll continue to support him by buying his music.
The RIAA and the record labels continue to show their true colors and continue to make themselves more and more irrelevant. iTunes has shown that a digital distribution model can work, and with EMI pushing for DRM-free offerings, it won’t be long before others follow suit. How long will it be before artists completely bypass the record labels? We’re already seeing it with sites like Amie Street… But it’s only a matter of time before it becomes more mainstream.
- 1 - If you must know, this was in 1994.
