Fan-focused philosophy

NIN's Reznor seeks new ways to do music

By Eric Lochridge, Journal staff | Tuesday, December 02, 2008

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Lots of rock stars talk about being rebels. And lots of them put that talk into action by trashing hotel rooms and committing other generally juvenile acts. But when it comes to putting their money where their mouths are, most of them don’t have much to say.

But Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind industrial-rock act Nine Inch Nails, isn’t like that. When it comes to rebellion, he takes direct aim at the corporate structures of the music industry.

Chafing at the nagging corporate influence on his artistic freedom, Reznor announced near the end of last year that Nine Inch Nails’ association with Universal Music Group was over and that he was taking the band independent.

Since then, the band released two albums within two months — “Ghosts I-IV” and “The Slip” — initially for free through the Nine Inch Nails Web site and later on conventional formats. Both of those albums were released on Creative Commons licenses, allowing anyone to use the material for nonprofit purposes as long as credit is given and any resulting work is released under an identical license.

“What we’ve been able to do since we got off a record label was really to do what we felt was the right thing to do. I would argue to anybody: Are we any worse off? No,” Reznor said.

His band’s success intact, Reznor’s philosophy is to move beyond the restrictive, outmoded practices of the music industry.

“Why not? I think some of the copyright laws were written before the Internet and before anyone could imagine the ways we can share music,” he said.

 “Essentially, it was very, very frustrating on a label to wait on pins and needles until the albums leak. And they always did. Then you’re caught in this weird feeling where you’re mad at your fans because they’re excited about your music.”

Confronted with a generation or two of fans who have never paid for music because they download it free on peer-to-peer computer networks, Reznor finds as much economic freedom as artistic freedom as an independent act.

“I don’t necessarily believe that music should be free. But that’s the way it is,” he said. “My philosophy is, ‘Hey, I’d rather choose my fights, and that’s one I can’t win.’ I’m only here because of the fans. I’m happy that fans are happy or excited or curious about my music. For now, music’s kind of free.”

But he is also looking ahead with strategies for distributing his music in the future.

“By releasing it as a CD after the fact, we made the money back. We got the music out there, and we made people happy. Mission accomplished,” Reznor said.

Against that backdrop, Nine Inch Nails embarked on the Lights in the Sky Over North America Tour earlier this year, and Nine Inch Nails fans are loving it.

“I think that we’ve put together the best show we ever put together,” he said, basing his opinion partly on positive feedback from online bulletin boards “where people have no qualms about complaining about everything you could possibly complain about.”

It’s clear that the fans are what have driven Reznor in his fights against undue influence on his band’s music.

“We have gone from critical darlings to people that get beat on. It’s nice to get a good review from someone you respect,” he said. From an academic point of view, critical acclaim is nice, but as far as Nine Inch Nails’ significance in the long run, “the fans are a much truer barometer of that — looking out and seeing that you’re connecting with people on a visceral level.”

Reznor remembers a tour in the band’s earliest days, opening for the Jesus and Mary Chain in “Tulsa or somewhere like that” and for the first time seeing people yelling his lyrics back to him from the audience.

“I remember thinking that I made something they can relate to — just like all the music that I listened to. I felt like I found my special purpose, and that was a great feeling. As good a nice review is, that’s more pure.”

If you go

What: Nine Inch Nails concert, with special guests The Bug

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28

Where: Rushmore Plaza Civic Center arena

Tickets: $42 for standing-only general admission; $37 for reserved balcony seating. Available at the civic center box office, The Silverado in Deadwood, by phone at 605-394-4111 or 1-800-GOT-MINE, or online at www.gotmine.com.

Contact Eric Lochridge at 394-8321 or eric.lochridge@rapidcityjournal.com.