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Trent Reznor: Steal My Music

youtube.com — Reznor to Fans: "Has anyone seen the price come down? Okay, well, you know what that means - STEAL IT. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'. Because one way or another these ***** will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that that's not right."

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 17, 2007

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  • malechite, on 10/10/2007, -1/+426I love Trent. He's one guy who truly embraces his music...and hates the way the music industry has become. Giving away multi-track versions of his songs online, releasing torrents of projects that would never otherwise be released due to legal reasons... Way to go Trent.
  • DuxDucis, on 10/10/2007, -5/+307Trent is the man, seriously. He seems to really get it when others don't. His contract with Universal is almost up (only one more album to go, which is reportedly coming soon), I can't wait to see what he's going to do as an independant. Trent's mentioned doing some things like selling the album online, high-quality lossless the day after it's produced in the studio for like $4.

    The future is bright for Reznor and NIN, whatever it may be!
  • MerryMortician, on 10/10/2007, -4/+237Prince and Metallica should take notes.
  • johnn11238, on 10/10/2007, -8/+223ALL artists should be independent. With Torrent, YouTube, ect, the record companies have no reason to exist. They are dinosaur parasites.
  • henchmen, on 10/10/2007, -6/+108The description of the comment could have been more specific. Reznor was speaking to fans in Australia, where he complained about the pricing of "Year Zero" when he toured there earlier this year. Trent felt the pricing was out of line compared to the rest of the world, said it publicly, and pissed off his record company. Months later, he returns and finds nothing has changed despite his comments, and that prompted his comments about stealing the music. I don't think he was telling everyone world-wide to steal all of his music, just those fans in Australia that were getting screwed.
  • cmyk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+99Year Zero is an amazing disc, and so is Trent. Go Reznor. Is there any way I can buy his music directly from him? I don't mind paying for good music, and he deserves the whole piece. ***** the middle man.
  • Murfshay22, on 10/10/2007, -14/+110OUCH! Damn it Trent... stop twisting my arm! ugh, that hurts! FINE! I'll download your music..... if you insist... damn it!
  • yunus, on 10/10/2007, -3/+79Is this a legal defense if the RIAA mails you a letter for downloading his music?
  • brstilson, on 10/10/2007, -2/+73Metallica lost all credibility a decade ago. Their albums have sucked for the last 15 years, and you know this one with Rick Rubin is going to suck, too. They're just a bunch of talentless hacks now, a bad parody of what they were, and not even a great producer can change that. Metallica has overstayed their welcome.
  • erasedgod, on 10/10/2007, -1/+50Fine, you don't like NIN and we don't like Avril Lavigne. To each, his own.
  • cheddamash, on 10/10/2007, -3/+46Yeah, um the people that distribute the t-shirts are the same people that distribute the CD's... the record label.
  • sdrawkcaB, on 10/10/2007, -1/+43Trent's an amazing disc too?
  • logicalnoise, on 10/10/2007, -1/+36he's still stuck in his contract till his next album then he's 100% online only and likely giving his music away or selling at cost.
  • goldfenix, on 10/10/2007, -0/+33The important thing about Reznor is that he is one of the artists serving as a mouthpiece for the current anti-RIAA movement. Thanks to artists like him the industry actually has pressure from within to change, and that's important.
  • drmangrum, on 10/10/2007, -8/+39people actually try to steal their music? Why?
  • Synthesize, on 10/10/2007, -4/+31Seriously, Trent is only one of the few musicians that understands the music industry and just "gets it". Telling his fans to just steal his album is a BIG ***** YOU to the record label for selling his album far more expensive than other albums out there right in other countries. What was the record label's excuse? "NIN has more dedicated fans that would buy at any price". Good for Trent. I highly respect what he's doing.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+28*****, I live in a 3rd world country where you cannot pay for music even if you wanted to. How can I donate a few dollars to Trent with my CC? I know he is stinking rich, but he deserves more!

    PS: I've already downloaded 3 of his albums, so its not really 'donating'. More like 'paying as much as I feel like'.
  • exomni, on 10/10/2007, -1/+24Also: you're an idiot. "Record Companies" =/= The RIAA.

    There are tons of labels that are extremely valuable and benefit the industry. It's the RIAA that is killing music.
  • ventralnet, on 10/10/2007, -4/+25Agreed... you have to keep in mind that trent reznor has already made millions off his music so really he probably doesn't care that people steal it now...
  • StaticThunder, on 10/10/2007, -2/+23Right, and back then people were dubbing them on cassettes. Piracy is old and will outlast this incarnation of the RIAA.
  • d03boy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21How could he make millions while other bands claim to be losing? And we've been stealing it all along? Gosh, I just can't figure it out! I don't suppose it has anything to do with this ... 'talent' thing that he might have. Oh well.
  • MemeWarrior, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20Year Zero isn't over yet. His next album will be a continuation of the Year Zero story.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20Just go to the concerts, that's the only way you can give them money directly.
  • SeraphX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19Well, he *was* dealing with an addiction between those two albums, you know.
  • MerryMortician, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/13/nprince113.xml

    no... read again. Prince is no prince for pirates.
  • Samohtneas, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18Here you go CMYK. http://01001001010000010100110101010011010101000101010001000010.com/ leads to a site he emailed to everyone who subscribed to the Year zero newsletter... click the "pigs all lined up" at the bottom adn you can download the new remixes as he releases them.

    Enjoy.
  • arjie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+19Some people know how to spread their content. When Freespace 2 was released by Volition, it was under a licence that allowed you to share it with your friends. That's the way to do it. Trent Reznor seems to know what his fans want, and he's sticking to what he started then. Awesome bugger.
  • gjscds, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15Wow--the guy gets it. He really gets it. If he's ever in concert in my area--I'm going to try and make a deliberate point to go see him.
  • allywilson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15...Or napster, huh?
  • eamonchaney, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14Bah, he's got plenty of years left. I was worried he was getting old after With Teeth, but then Year Zero came out... Now I can't wait.
  • eamonchaney, on 10/10/2007, -4/+18ur a moron. Concerts, T-Shirts and other memorabilia are how almost all artists make their money. They get dick from album sales.
  • humanerror, on 04/03/2008, -2/+16Way ahead of ya Trent
  • tizz66, on 10/10/2007, -8/+22I see this argument trotted out a lot. Look, I'm no fan of the RIAA, but record companies DO have a place in our world. Yes, you can find new music on youtube, facebook etc. As geeks, this is our environment and we're comfortable with it. The wider majority aren't. An indie person who's made some good youtube videos cannot get their CD into every music shop in the world. But a record company has that ability. A record company has the knowledge and the budget to promote you to a huge number of people. That's *very* difficult to do on your own.

    A lot of commercial music is *****, but a lot isn't. Even the indiest bands need record companies if they want to get their music out to lots of people, which is the ambition of most musicians. You might be happy trawling through YouTube to find a good band, but you'd kill recorded music for the rest of the planet if record companies disappeared.
  • vornan19, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14I am not a fan of Trent's music but I support his giving the RIAA a headache because we all should.
  • mojoel, on 10/10/2007, -4/+17Trent Reznor: Steal my music.
    Me: YARRRR. OK.

    Seriously, Trent has NO love for the labels. They've ripped him off big time, specifically TVT.
  • markgl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13it's not anti corporate attitude, if that was the case he'd never signed on a major label and we'd probably would have never heard of NIN. it's about telling them to stop ripping us off and sell and distribute money fairly.
  • egoviri, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14Doubtful. People already know they're being screwed and I have yet to see anybody stand up and fight. Iraq war? check. Music labels? check. Voter fraud? check.

    Hate to break it to you, champ, but we the unwashed masses are doing a pretty piss-poor job of standing up and fighting just about anything these days...
  • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15@Plinkotic

    "Emo-cidal Jerkoff" is a ***** awesome band name
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13I can't say I like their music, but I do love me some liberty.
  • specs10, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13actually, he paid for those himself out of his pocket. I guess he thought they were cool.
  • Protonz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12The moment he goes independent and starts selling off his site, I will be there. And I know I'm not alone.
  • TheHydrogens, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Yeah! How dare he pretend to have control over his creative works... weren't copyright laws meant to "protect the artists"?
  • Plinkotic, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12Id love to agree, but I've inherited elder siblings old tape collections... copy upon copy upon copy, whew. More mixtapes than todays emo-cidal jerkoff!
  • MisterKen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10I appreciate that he even talks about it. He may be successful, but he's doing something. You don't hear Sting saying anything...

    We need that 'punk' mentality back in a big way. During the 70s we reacted against all those mega bands out of touch with reality. Punk came along and tore it to pieces. The world changed and everyone knew it.

    We need one artist...who has 'hits', is important and moves lots of product to sell directly to fans without a record label and all this crap goes away. The record companies would be forced to compete with the artists themselves, the media would be forced to cover music and not be spoon fed press releases... all hell will break loose. Bring it on.
  • testbenchdude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10"I didn't need his permission."

    Yes but it's nice to have it anyway.

    (quoted if you get burried :) )
  • mspiels, on 10/10/2007, -6/+15I wonder if he didn't allready have money if he would pull this stunt.
  • bmdubya, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11Did you even listen to Year Zero? Probably one of the best albums in the past five years. I look at Year Zero in whole, not just the music, but the marketing and the subliminal advertising behind it. It was all genius. Trent is one of the few people left in the music industry who hasn't sold out to the punkish, emo, ***** pop ***** that is so ***** annoying I want to blow my brains out when I just catch a glimpse of it on the radio. Yes, I am talking to you Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco.
  • smackhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9well, it's not like he's not still making money. most bands make most of their money by touring/playing shows and selling merch. so this is mostly just hurting the label.

    i think it's great that trent's doing this and calling for a reform in the music industry which has become filled with corruption. i hope other artists will follow. the anti-piracy movement has just hurt consumers and fans. artists should instead be embracing piracy as it's the cheapest and most effective means of viral marketing--by having fans share music with their friends and exposing more people to the band/artist.
  • iceschade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Success! Mission accomplished! Contract termination == freedom!
  • Corrosionx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9That's like saying a horse and a car are totally unrelated... Sure, both are fundamentally different, but they serve the same purpose.
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