NIN live in Stockholm
Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor posted to his site today about the incredibly high price of his CD and how that contributes to the stealing of music. Read on – “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.”
It’s mind boggling how out of whack things can get. Respect to Trent for seeing a fan as a person and not a dollar sign.
May 14th, 2007 at 8:01 pmOut of whack is an understatement I think. Things are appalling. What other industry’s vendor/client/artist would speak out in outrage like Trent?
May 14th, 2007 at 8:34 pmtrent is punk rock. I’ve always had big respect for him and his work ethic.
May 15th, 2007 at 7:24 amI read about Trent’s post at another site and was surprised at the negative comments left.
site: http://www.idolator.com/tunes/nine-inch-nails/trent-reznor-does-not-want-you-to-pay-a-lot-for-this-cd-260247.php
There seems to be this vocal sector of net savvy folk who think music should be free and, I guess, musicians should be able to live on love.
It seems to me there is a very broad middle ground between making a fair living and the over abundance of the current big wig record company model.
I’m so curious about where the middle ground will come to lie and how the model will change so artists can still eat and fans will feel value in the music they purchase.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:34 pmI read about Trent’s post at another site and was surprised at the negative comments left.
site: http://www.idolator.com/tunes/nine-inch-nails/trent-reznor-does-not-want-you-to-pay-a-lot-for-this-cd-260247.php
There seems to be this vocal sector of net savvy folk who think music should be free and, I guess, musicians should be able to live on love.
It seems to me there is a very broad middle ground between making a fair living and the over abundance of the current big wig record company model.
I’m so curious about where thae middle ground will come to lie and how the model will change so artists can still eat and fans will feel value in the music they purchase.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:35 pmWhat’s funny is that this is the same exact sort of complaint uttered back in the late 70s and early 80s…same again. Sad thing is, it seems that while the victims are the fans, the cause of the trouble is fandom itself, after a fashion.
The staggering numbers of people willing to suspend disbelief long enough to purchase a Britney Spears record, or forgetful enough to buy this week’s repackaged hip hop formula with different firearms and new scantily clad women in the music videos keeps this whole mess alive. Kudos to any farsighted group–especially in the hip hop genre–who can depart from this nonsense and still earn enough to justify recording another record. But the glittering prizes are far too tempting for some, and we get…well, you know.
This is a cranky pre-coffee post and will probably seem pointless/redundant after five or more cups. Flame if you must. We must repeat–D-E-V-O.
May 16th, 2007 at 6:29 amAll good points….even pre-coffee, you crank..! One thought – who’s up for distilling how hip hop killed off it’s sales base?
May 16th, 2007 at 6:48 amI think I can minorly stab at that one, even briefly–for years, the trend was to sample funk grooves from the 70s and 80s, right? The “me too” artists have exhausted all the sampleable material. Because the last ten-15 years have been sample-crazy by no-talents, there’s no NEW shit to sample! You can recycle those beats, but once they are gone…what’s left to toss in the hopper?
Now I’m just talking crap here, but I have a sneaking suspicion there’s something to that…now take a group like OutKast who like to create danceable, groovey MUSIC, there’s a blast of fresh air. It’s only a matter of time before that fat bassline from “Hey Ya” gets recycled by some third rate “Me Too” outfit.
May 16th, 2007 at 7:29 amoh yea. you’d think there would be more fun material out there. outkast is great. I think there are some awesome mainstream beats being made these days by the roots, timbaland, wyclef, kanye, outkast, quasimodo—just to name a few. outside of those few groups I don’t hear much imaginative songwriting. I think the imagination of songs on the FM dial has deteriorated all across the board though. but do people who get through the day on a steady diet of FM radio and shit tons of obnoxiously loud commercials listen to lyrics? I honestly don’t know…
as one who grew up on public enemy, NWA, run DMC, beastie boys, the fat boys, doug E fresh, and LL cool J I’m pretty disappointed with the direction mainstream hip hop has gone. but I would again submit the idea that the FM dial is lacking in imagination in every genre and that we simply need to ignore it and it’s corporate playlist. I really think there is room for a mid-sized label with a strong business model to get some underground hip hop out there. the barsuk of hip hop. but it seems people have been saying that for years….
May 16th, 2007 at 11:39 amLack of new talent and I also think the kids saw through the bling and the product placement as taking away from the original authenticity of the street scene that hip hop sprang up from. Apart from a few players the sales are pretty dismal these days. Even 50 cent has taken to calling them out…
May 16th, 2007 at 8:43 pmAre we picking on Hip-hop because it’s the biggest-selling genre? If so, it makes sense to use it as a barometer of sorts for the rest of the industry, but Hip-hop as a musical form is as vital and creative as it’s ever been — if not more. I came up with BDP, PE, Ice T, NWA, the Native Tongues, et al. too, but for everyone of them back then, there was an MC Hammer, a Young MC, a Tone Loc. The biggest-selling mainstream acts today are light years ahead of the mainstream acts back in the so-called “Golden Era.” Sure, Sean Combs’ indolent and uncreative use of samples dragged the genre down for a few years, but he didn’t do any damage that Hammer hadn’t already done — and he brought us Biggie (which almost makes up for it). Overall, Hip-hop has gotten more interesting, more complex, more diverse, and just plain better.
I think the wounding of its sales base is a symptom of the diseased larger picture.
-royc.
P.S. Props to Trent for speaking out against the real music killers.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:26 amSo how was El-P last night compared to Seattle?
May 17th, 2007 at 1:09 pmThey were comparable. Last night’s show had less of an impact on me than the first time, but he (and his band, including Mr. Dibbs on the tables, Kareem on bass, Wilder on keys, and The Mighty Quinn on back-up vocals) is consistent. The set is a lot to take: sounds, lights, blood, fog. It’s intense — especially after lighter-hearted Hip-hop acts Hangar 18, Yak Ballz, and Slow Suicide Stimulus. I could see him being more at home opening for Nine Inch Nails or The Mars Volta, considering the dark vibe and the work he did with those artists on his new record.
May 17th, 2007 at 4:08 pm[...] Related Post: Trent Reznor rails against his record company. [...]
June 24th, 2007 at 7:51 amas a music consumer myself, it is disappointing to see the corporatization of music (like the smashing pumpkins’ 4-version record reported on pitchfork.) but it is also encouraging to see reznor take a stand – for example…personally abolishing the $-grab joke (that is, the multi-version euro cd single) on future NIN singles. I’m sure there are artists (even some who read this blog) who feel the same way, and I feel it’s up to the artists to seriously consider how their music/art will be (or is) distributed and measure the balance between business, art, and quality. On the flip side, it’s up to the consumer to seriously consider what is worth their time and money. If the pumpkins’ record doesn’t sell well at target, best buy, or wherever the other “alternate versions” are being sold, that would be a pretty good message… but, (sigh), the majors seem to try any gimmick to sell more records.
June 24th, 2007 at 3:31 pmI think gimmicks don’t work too well these days. As you say Erik, the proof will be in the pudding, how well will this album by the Pumpkins sell anyway. Core base will buy it but beyond that, who knows? We’ll se.
June 25th, 2007 at 6:21 am