nails

Trent Reznor compares Apple to Wal-Mart

Still somewhere between perplexed and apoplectic after Apple had rejected the new Nine Inch Nails iPhone app update, the band's frontman, Trent Reznor, expressed himself very clearly on NIN's blog forum.

Neatly emphasizing his point with a quite liberal use of the kinds of words that Apple appears to find uncomfortable, Reznor compared Apple's attitude with that of, startlingly, Wal-Mart Stores:

"And while we're at it, I'll voice the same issue I had with Wal-Mart years ago, which is a matter of consistency and hypocrisy. Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all … Read more

Apple rejects Nine Inch Nails iPhone app update

For a man who has been responsible for some of the more industrial lyrics in the music history, Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor has taken rejection by Apple with a relatively sanguine spirit.

On discovering that Apple has refused to approve NIN's latest iPhone app update, he tweeted: "Apple rejects the NIN iPhone update because it contains objectionable content. The objectionable content referenced is 'The Downward Spiral.'" ("The Downward Spiral" is a 1994 album that laces a touch of earthy nihilism into a musical screwdriver of heavy psychological meltdown.)

Reznor then added in a follow-up tweet: "Not even sure where to start with that one."

Well, he might like to start with the fact that the very same content, with lyrics on the track "Closer" that suggest the author would like to have rather rough, bestial intercourse with his lover, is still happily available for close scrutiny on iTunes. And, according to MG Siegler at TechCrunch, who is in possession of one, on the first version of the already approved NIN iPhone app.… Read more

Is Reznor a digital-music visionary? Ask Lars Ulrich

Sure, rocker Trent Reznor's example has encouraged plenty of music acts to reject the label system and search for a new industry paradigm using the Web.

But did anyone expect that among Reznor's disciples would be Lars Ulrich?

Ulrich, a member of the rock band Metallica and once one of the leading critics of peer-to-peer sites, said during an interview last week with The Los Angeles Times that Metallica no longer needs the backing of a big record company and suggested that the group may be ready to go independent.

"The primary--not the only, but the primary--function … Read more

Wrestling with scalpers in the free market

A year and a half after I first blogged about ticket brokers and the free market, the rest of the world is finally catching on to the fact that scalping isn't going away.

A lot has happened in the intervening time--Live Nation emerged as a competitor to Ticketmaster, then agreed to merge with Ticketmaster, and The Wall Street Journal has published a couple of articles exposing the fact that artists and managers often team up with ticket sellers (like Ticketmaster) and brokers (like Ticketmaster subsidiary TicketExchange) to sell their own allotments of tickets for several times their face value. … Read more

Daily Tidbits: Nine Inch Nails is the coolest band around

Nine Inch Nails band leader Trent Reznor announced in a blog post on the band's official page Wednesday that a "subversive" group contacted him recently with 400GB of HD footage from three of the band's recent concerts. In a move that would send shock waves through the music industry, Reznor provided a link to the file and challenged fans to create compelling videos out of all the footage. Those interested can find more information about the video on the Nine Inch Nails Web site.

Slacker.com, a service that provides personalized online radio stations, announced Thursday … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 886: That's our title!

We're coming to you from CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada and it's all about Netbooks today. I'm sure we'll get more buzz about 3D TVs and more later this week. Also, Ellie doesn't like it when we call out the title of the show, but that makes it easier for Jason to find them for his special edition! (And please excuse a bit of distortion in today's episode. Sorry! -Jason) Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 886

Yawn— MacWorld (woohoo iTunes DRM free!!) http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10133230-37.html http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090106-apple-mwsf-announcements-new-macbook-pro.html… Read more

Byrne/Eno succeed in cutting out the middleman

Back in August, I noted that the new David Byrne/Brian Eno album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, was available in its entirety as a free streaming audio file.

They also put up a free download of one track, "Strange Overtones." Later, they offered several packages to purchase--from downloads-only for $8.99 to a deluxe package with a hardbound book, screensaver, and extra songs for $69.99.

Turns out that this release and marketing strategy was driven by Topspin Media, which is led by former Yahoo Music Vice President Ian Rogers.

A couple weeks ago, Rogers … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 818: The Zipless Squirt

It's an "in the wild" sort of show today: love on the bus, Zune-style; a Tesla in the wild; an anecdotal Netbook in the wild; and wild assumptions and paranoia about Internet tracking ensue as Rafe Needleman returns to BOL. Also, the birdman flies over the Channel. Awesome. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 818

Jack Thompson Disbarred http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/25/1822207 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10051241-52.html

AT& T, Verizon to refrain from tracking users online http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092504135.html… Read more

Reznor to NIN fans: Help us know what you'll buy

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) has been blazing trails in the music industry, but apparently he wants to take it one step further. Where, however, is not yet clear.

In fact, that may be the point to a step taken recently by the band. In an e-mail sent out to fans, Reznor asked his fans to fill out a survey to help NIN better serve the fans:

As we've moved from the familiar world of record labels and BS into the unknown world of doing everything yourself, we've realized it would benefit us and our ability … Read more