Trent Reznor - Reznor Urges Musicians To Ditch Labels

07 April 2009 19:01

Reznor Urges Musicians To Ditch Labels

Rocker TRENT REZNOR is urging all musicians to follow in his footsteps and ditch their record labels.

Reznor's band Nine Inch Nails broke away from their deal with Universal in 2007, after a tempestuous relationship with the music giant.

The singer describes the experience as "liberating" - insisting big labels make too much money from musicians and are completely out of touch with the industry.

Reznor says, "Anyone who's an executive at a record label does not understand what the internet is, how it works, how people use it, how fans and consumers interact - no idea. I'm surprised they know how to use email. They have built a business around selling plastic discs, and nobody wants plastic discs any more. They're in such a state of denial it's impossible for them to understand what's happening.

"One of the biggest wake-up calls of my career was when I saw a record contract. I said, 'Wait - you sell it for $18.98 and I make 80 cents? And I have to pay you back the money you lent me to make it and then you own it? Who the f**k made that rule? Oh! The record labels made it because artists are dumb and they'll sign anything' - like I did. When we found out we'd been released (from their recording contract) it was like, 'Thank God!'. But 20 minutes later it was, 'Uh-oh, now what are we going to do?' It was incredibly liberating, and it was terrifying."

And Reznor adds that musicians should be exploring other ways to sell their own music, rather than relying on labels: "As an artist, you are now the marketer."


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12th July 2009   21:53

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17th April 2009   15:33

MD_Fisher (1)

If it weren't for the internet's audio samples and video clips I never would have found some of my favourite artists and subsequently gone to see them play live, bought t-shirts at those shows and purchased vinyl, CD copies or MP3s of their songs/albums. All I am wondering is where's the music video store? These devices we have can play video, some can even play video via a TV out (A/V out port).

10th April 2009   12:33

mikey182 (1)

@JJinBrooklyn > But the rest of us, competing for eyes and ears in the media saturated world, what are we to do? What are you doing now? The labels are still alive and massively influential, record stores and online stores abound, they still own or dominate radio airplay and awards. What's different? I agree they might start to struggle, and might be on the way out - but my point is NOW they still have the power and influence they had for Radiohead and NiN, and YOU still can't get heard. It shows that the difference between you and them is either quality (they might be better) or luck (the record companies happened to run with them rather than you). EITHER WAY you can't do anything about it with the old system - you needed talent and/or the good favour of a record company. Now think of the brave new world if everyone ditches the labels, and the hungry consumer uses free outlets (I love last.fm) to try out new music. True, it's still going to take a bit of luck to be heard, but the cream usually does rise to the top. If you have the talent, you will succeed. If you don't, then why should you? Perhaps radiohead & NiN wouldn't have got super-rich without the labels, but I'm pretty damn sure they would have made a good living, making the music they wanted to, and made their fans very happy. Is that such a bad future?

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