Ten super-perceptive questions with Trent Reznor, courtesy of Digg users.
The interview is incredible. Trent is articulate and honest, laying out his opinion on the shifting models of the music business.
His answer to the first question is lengthy and fantastic – talking us through how he manages the NIN brand, about generating income to do R&D for his website, and into the world of digital business models.
Radiohead’s little experiment aside, Trent is at the very forefront of interacting with fans in the digital domain – plugging in to their opinions and offering a variety of models to obtain his music. It shows through in the interview – right down to letting fans remix his songs and edit his concert videos to the development of NIN’s own somewhat ground-breaking iPhone app.
Later in the first question, he touches on digital subscription models, and how if the labels go that route they could put the whammy on independent artists doing their own experiments in the digital domain. And, that he tried to “pay if you will” approach with one of his artists, and only netted 18%.
Also, in question three he gives advice to aspiring pop stars versus bubbling-under indie bands. Note the respect and relevance he affords to American Idol and Christina Aguilera. And, realistically says there is a no profit in iTunes, and to try TopSpin instead.
Finally, in the second question he confesses a love for AND ALSO SINGS Ce Ce Peniston’s “Finally.” Seriously. I died.
I wish Tori was still speaking with him, because she needs to learn how to do this shit. If ever there was an artist whose fan base is ready to mobilize and tune in to every possible content- and revenue-stream, its Tori.
PS: At the moment Juliana Hatfield is doing an honor system sale of rare and demo tracks. Her approach is a little misguided, as her site is suggesting paying the standard $.99 a song. I’m pretty sure they’re not going to recoup that much (or anything), but I will certainly donate once I’ve had a chance to listen.