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Trent Reznor

The question period has ended for Trent Reznor, and you’ve voted on the top questions! Digg Dialogg lets you submit your questions to notable leaders and luminaries. Rather than editors or journalists, the Digg community decides the most popular questions to be posed in the interview.

Check out previous Digg Dialoggs with Republican House Leader John Boehner, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and former Vice President Al Gore.

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Digg Dialogg: Trent Reznor

The voting period has ended and you’ve picked the top questions that Digg founder Kevin Rose asked Trent Reznor during this Digg Dialogg. Check out the interview below!


  1. Your business model still primarily involves selling music either digitally or physically. Why haven't you embraced advertising as a business model? (+710 diggs, view question, submitted by Kethinov)
  2. What is the most embarrassing song on your iPod? (+571 diggs, view question, submitted by lindbergrm)
  3. What advice do you have for up and coming bands who chose the internet for distribution over traditional channels? (+463 diggs, view question, submitted by chris4404)
  4. What tech gadgets, hardware, software, can you not live without? (+448 diggs, view question, submitted by kevinrose)
  5. Have the plans to release a Year Zero mini-series on HBO fallen through? Or can we still look forward to a video representation of the album? (+389 diggs, view question, submitted by halofourteen)
  6. What is your favorite thing you have seen done with your music by a fan of NIN? (+335 diggs, view question, submitted by JCrichton)
  7. What are some of your favorite video games? (+287 diggs, view question, submitted by christoscamaro)
  8. Will any of the records of your side project Tapeworm, with TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan, ever be released? (+251 diggs, view question, submitted by metalchik)
  9. Since you are a tech artist, are you planning an online concert? (+251 diggs, view question, submitted by jacobo)
  10. Is there tension between art director Rob Sheridan and basist Justin Meldal-Johnsen over coverage of the Scientology protest? (+222 diggs, view question, submitted by YourMomsAnAnon)

The question and voting period has ended We've collected the Digg counts when voting ended and you can no longer add new questions.
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  • Kethinov, on 03/30/2009, -99/+888Trent - you've embraced Creative Commons and file sharing, but your business model (aside from touring) still primarily involves selling music either digitally or physically. Why haven't you embraced advertising as a business model, e.g. placing ads on your torrent tracker? Why let Pirate Bay take all the ad revenue you deserve? Furthermore, why aren't you building a brand new record label based on a modern business model?
  • Kethinov, on 03/31/2009, -1/+3@AndrewMoffat, thanks for the clarification. Your model is interesting and I think it has merit, but it shouldn't be done to the exclusion of advertising, and I question whether or not it is viable for artists that aren't already popular. Who would pledge money to speculative music no one has heard yet and thus cannot know whether or not it will be any good?
  • gcnaddict, on 03/31/2009, -1/+3I'm in favor of changing the last question here to "Why not build a brand new record label based on a modern business model?"

    It's good if we encourage him.
  • Kethinov, on 03/30/2009, -1/+3If I'm reading you right, under Musicslu's business model those who want to pay (or pledge, or whatever) are encouraged to pay, and those who don't are free to use p2p. How is that any different from what Trent is doing already?

    Sorry, provided I haven't misread any of the facts surrounding your service, I don't think your answer is correct at all because you seem to be assuming that your business model and advertising are mutually exclusive, which is fallacious.

    Keep in mind, I am not suggesting Trent drop any of his existing sources of income. I'm merely suggesting that he should make use of advertising to monetize a section of his fanbase he's not currently monetizing at all. (He's letting TPB take those revenues from him.)
  • RegalBegal, on 04/01/2009, -1/+2AFAIK touring and merch sales are where bands can make the most money.
  • magneteye, on 04/04/2009, -1/+2Please go with an "open source" business model with your music, and help other bands and musicians to do the same. What do you think of this?
  • Kethinov, on 03/31/2009, -2/+3@Izzie, regarding point 2) mininova makes over a million a year on ads. If TPB isn't pulling a similar figure i'd be surprised. And that goes well beyond "covering costs."

    Regarding point 3) I'm suggesting setting up a label that doesn't work in an old, broken way like that. Regarding point 1) I think I'll just roll my eyes at you.
  • Kethinov, on 04/06/2009, -1/+2If not Trent, then who? Trent has money and influence and people, important people listen to him. Who better to spearhead something like this? I would if I were in his position.
  • TheGreatBelow, on 03/31/2009, -3/+4Ads... I haven't seen one of those since 2004 when I started using Adblock Plus.

    Two words come to mind when I think of ads:

    1). Unprofessional
    2). Desperate

    Trent is neither of those things.
  • dizavin, on 04/04/2009, -1/+1this is a good question, but it kind of comes off with an accusatory feeling to it. as if Kethinov is implying that it's Mr. Reznor's responsibility to singlehandedly build a whole new foundation for a new model for digital commerce.
  • bluecalx2, on 03/31/2009, -1/+1I sincerely hope that Trent doesn't ever give in to advertising. NIN has an incredible amount of integrity in their art and he has fought some very tough battles to keep those kinds of corrupting influences away. It's one of the things I have most admired about him. Seeing ads on nin.com or even a torrent tracking would be depressing. Maybe not as bad as seeing Trent in a Gap commercial, but it's just not what NIN is about.
  • Izzie, on 03/30/2009, -2/+2Three things:
    1) Advertising is evil
    2) tpb has functioning costs to cover ( and they're not making money out of advertising but paying bills, refer to tpb trial for details). On a sidenote tpb is not the only tracker where one can find trent's tracks.
    3) In the traditional record industry model, the money covering distribution cost goes to the industry and not to the artist. Except for famous artists, money comes from gigs and touring and not from selling records.

    kthxbai !
  • ChasingSquid, on 04/05/2009, -3/+2In all honesty, I cannot believe this is the question at the top of the question list. I love Nine Inch Nails, and i have since I was a child, they have been an inspiration to me and a bridge to help me get through tough times, but of all things, this question? i mean come on, it doesn't even make sense. Why doesnt he advertise on a torrent tracker? what kind of question is that, who is going to buy a cd after they just downloaded it for free unless you want to support the band - in which case you would have bought the CD already anyways? There is a common misconception on the internet that traditional marketing methods cannot be used and have to be drastically overhauled inorder to work in modern times, creative thinking is all that is necessary to get past things like that and Trent has done them all. From releasing his garageband tracks to leaking his own music via USB at a concert he has stayed on the forefront where other musicians have lagged eons behind. This question, and the fact that it made it to the top, is the reason digg is WAY to immature of an audience to be granted such a wonderful opportunity. JUST MY 2 CENTS. <3 NIN
  • AndrewMoffat, on 03/31/2009, -1/+0@Kethinov, thanks!

    You make a great point. Musicslu supports youtube integration so artists can upload samples and link them to their release page for fans to preview. Other than that, artists can make really low goals, or give away their music for free to gain a reputation, and then increase their goal as they gain more of a following.

    On the bright side, if you're a fan and you're wary of a new band, you can place a low pledge and wait to see what others think--remember you only pay your pledge if the goal hits 100%, otherwise your pledge is refunded to you.

    The model is scalable to both smaller indie bands, and larger, more established artists. But, like you suggested, gaining a following as a new musician often takes talent and hard work, no matter what the model is
  • AndrewMoffat, on 03/30/2009, -2/+0@Kethinov: Close!

    Those who want to pay are encouraged to pay, yes, but those who don't cannot download the music on p2p until it's released. And the music isn't released until it hits its goal in pledges. In other words, there is nothing to share for free if the community doesn't come together to support the artist. But once the community does, the music is free to share under Creative Commons.

    This model provides direct 2-way communication between fans and artist. A musician cannot overvalue/overprice his music, because if he does, goal won't be met. Fans, as a whole, cannot decide to not support the artist, because if they do, the music won't be released.

    Another feature of this model, not mentioned in the video, is Goodies, which are essentially gifts from the musician to either a random pledger (like a lottery), or the top pledger (like an auction) when the pool hits 100% of its goal. Goodies can include autographed band merch, tickets, backstage passes, whatever the musician wants. This stimulates pledging to ensure goal is reached.

    Musicslu is the only model that treats the concept of music as an entity which costs virtually nothing to reproduce, and therefore should have the benefits of such a thing, like free sharing, but still soley and directly support the musician. But you are correct, advertising and this model are not mutually exclusive.
  • AndrewMoffat, on 03/30/2009, -4/+0There are other, more elegant and sustainable alternatives to supporting our artists than ad revenue, community pledging being one of them. Musicslu is proof that music can be FREE to share, support the artist, and not rely on ad revenue.

    Clearly one of the most pressing questions to Trent is his take on the music industry, piracy, and how it can all come together, and as owner and chief architect of Musicslu, I believe we have the answer.

    Trent, will you join the underground music experiment? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tfRxbqEUOw
  • Twizlah, on 04/05/2009, -4/+0what are your feelings on wal-mart entering the ticket game?

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