Trent Reznor and Radiohead - pioneering the future of music

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I can't believe there hasn't been a topic on this yet. Regardless of if you love or hate NIN or Radiohead this is big big news, certainly for the music industry but also perhaps for other areas of media as well since it encompasses the entire future of the methods of publishing art.

Radiohead fans will be able to choose how much to pay for the band's next album, In Rainbows, which is available for download on 10 October.

Instead of listing a price for the music, the group's website simply states "it's up to you" - and then adds: "No really, it's up to you."
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Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7021743.stm

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has once again attacked the music industry and his record label Universal.

In a no-holds-barred speech between songs at the group's concert at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Sunday, Reznor spoke out against against Universal Music Australia and encouraged fans to steal music.

In response to the high prices charged for CDs, he called the record label "greedy f***ing assholes".

"Steal it. Steal away. Steal, steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealing," Reznor said.

"Because one way or another these motherf***ers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that's not right."

The group's latest album, Year Zero, sells for more than $30 in Australia, far more than albums from other artists.
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Source: http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2007/se ... ays-steal/

I can't find any more details on NIN but i did read somewhere that he is going to do one more album and then release all further EPs on his website - either for free or around £2.

I couldn't be happier, im so tired of walking into record shops only to find that a favourite album of mine costs nearly £20 to buy, no joke Gomez albums are ridiculously expensive. The knowledge that ALL of my money and not a tiny percentage will actually go to the person who created it is something so simple and yet it seems to have taken what? nearly 100 years for it to happen.
There was another interview with Trent earlier about the prices of his albums in Austrailia. The retailer's general attitude was "the greater the fanbase the higher we can charge - its only the churned out pop that we need to discount in order to shift."

And as i said previously this might spark a further electronic revolution in the means of DVDs. With internet speeds getting faster and faster and the use of bittorrent increasing we might see films and anime being released on the web for a dramatically reduced price - but only if people rock those industries like the fans and some artists have rocked the music one. I realise that there are larger costs behind those two mediums but when you see some anime going for £7 for one series and £90 for another, it makes me sick. Popularity deserves to be rewarded; but not with over a 1000% price difference.

This is wide (and hopeful) speculation on my part and there will no doubt be fans who still want physical proof of their purchase (which is why i really like Radiohead's idea of releasing a mega-release of In Rainbows as an alternative.

Here's also to hoping that we get more musicians in the music industry instead of churned out boy, girl and indie bands - people only in it for the money and the fame.

Anyways far too much writing, discuss!
 
Being cynical, I'd say "of course Radiohead and Trent are doing this - they can afford to with the amount of money hey've made." but since 1) they are two bands/artists I have a lot of respect for already and 2) they have a vaid point to make, I'd add that although they can afford to speak out, kudos to them for making the effort. It's so easy for big earners in the industry to sit back and let the money from the fans roll in, but because their voices are loud, they're saying something.

I guess even the most successful rock stars can remember how tough it was starting out and trying to eke out a living with the Industry Man trying to milk their talent. This is what makes the majority of popular music the mess it is.

There have been crappy commercial pop bands for as long as pop's been around of course, but with the ease by which music can be distributed, I think now things can change for the better. Exposure is easy thanks to the internet, but so is piracy. My prediction is that the big labels suffer from illegal downloads and file sharing, because the potential losses are huge.

The indie labels, who rely as much on hard-working bands who make a steady living on the underground as they do on record sales, may not be nearly as seriously affected. If bands go to smaller organisations or even go independent (the 'net and so forth makes this easier) the influence will be fragmented and things will improve for artists and fans alike.

It's a complicated issue and I'm not sure I'm making much sense but to summarise, the current technology lessens the need for big labels and the like - at least I hope so because I still think CDs are expensive and a rip-off to the consumer AND the artists who contribute the music.
 
Hopefully we can begin to see some artist releasing what they want to release rather than what their company wants them to. Yes the journey will be harder to achieve fame - sorting out gigs, receiving widespread exposure and so on and so forth but i believe that the bands who stick together through the good and the band - those who are actually willing to take a loss in order to publicise their music - those are the kind of people who's music i would like to listen to.
 
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