Trent Reznor wanted
a site where his fans could post and exchange remixes they crafted themselves. Given that some remixes were mash-ups and involved samples, Universal Music Group did not want to get into a copyright battle and subsequently
shut the site down. So, Reznor went and hosted the site himself - thus bearing the legal responsibility. "Sometimes you just have to say... 'fuck it,'" Reznor posted on
nin.com. Writes Antony Bruno in
Billboard,
What’s cool about Reznor's decision to just do it himself is that unlike a lot of other label critics, he's putting his money where his mouth is. There are plenty of pundits teeing off on how the music industry needs to do this better or do that better, without any skin in the game themselves.
He could have easily shrugged his shoulders and said "Sorry, the big bad labels won't let me do it" and gotten another round of free PR by making himself out to be a martyr. But he didn't. He just did it.
We need to see more of this type of pioneering spirit from the industry at large. I'm not just talking about remix sites, but any digital initiative that shows some promise of capturing fans' attention.
Move over Radiohead, in the past two months, Reznor has emerged as the new industry rebel soldier -
declaring himself a free agent, while improving on the
In Rainbows model with
the latest Saul Williams release. Alas, he do so only as a member of the musical upper upper class.
1 comment:
It is very exciting to me that these well established artists are forging new paths in distribution and communication with listeners/consumers/fans. I love how open Reznor has been about his long term struggles with the music industry's bullshit!
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