Trent's text....


Posted on [05_13_2007]

As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:

* The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne's record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US).
By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: "It's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy."
So... I guess as a reward for being a "true fan" you get ripped off.

* The dreaded EURO Maxi-single. Nothing but a consumer rip-off that I've been talked into my whole career. No more.

The point is, I am trying my best to make sure the music and items NIN puts in the marketplace have value, substance and are worth you considering purchasing. I am not allowing Capital G to be repackaged into several configurations that result in you getting ripped off.

We are planning a full-length remix collection of substance that will be announced soon.

Well...now that Trent is super yummy...I mean...super muscular with all that gym work, he can sure kick some ass.

superspaceboy said:

Well its always been that way, music overseas always has cost a shit load more than here, which is why when people LAUGH at someone selling only 10,000 copies in Russia, i say, do you realize what those people are paying for the music they purchase. And fans have always been the target of extra gimmicks, thats why there are GREATEST HITS albums with one new track on them, thats why their are limited editions with a dvd or a remix disc in them, I understand Trents issue but its a business, if you dont like the way labels work, then leave the label.

lastdecember said:

Or he could try and change things from within like refusing to release a single for the track "Capital G".

Maybe he will leave the label once his contract is up.

sextonseven said:

But does refusing product to your fans do right by our fans? You can say that at least Prince doesn't bleed his fan base with remixes, spec ed, videos etc...which we'd GLADLY pay for; if anything but to add to our collection

superspaceboy said:

He's not refusing product. He said the remixes will be released later on a full remix album.

But fans are always the ones that pay, its like that in everything from sports to movies to music. I mean if artists felt that fans were getting screwed than play free concerts all the time, or dont charge 100 bucks a ticket because you have to pay the venue rental and the equipment. Thats not gonna happen, because your fans are why you can do what you wanna do everyday of your life. So its a noble crusade, but in reality who is gonna buy this "remix" album? fans! Trust me artists already know they are going to do remixes and things like that, if that was the case, then give the remixes away free, but that would never happen. I mean you make an album because you know that your loyal fans will buy it and its a check for you, i mean noble or not, that is the truth, Loyal fans are why artists are able to still do what they wanna do.

lastdecember said:

Trent doesn't charge $100 for shows.

sextonseven said:

But 99% of them charge 50-150 dollars a show. The point is i get what he is saying, but your fans pay and thats why you can still play shows. If artists were that concerned about the Loyals $$$'s then they would all play free and give it away.

lastdecember said:

But then how are artists supposed to support themselves is they gave away all their music and tickets for free?

Isn't Ozzfest free this year?

sextonseven said:

It's free to the fans. But commerical companies are paying the ticket prices.

Two of my favorite artists (or one of my favorite artists and my favorite band) of all time are Madonna and U2. I grew up on Madonna's music; I don't absolutely agree with everything she does, nor do I think she's God, but she is so ingrained in me from childhood that she might as well be related to me. U2 got through to me during a hard time in my life, and they've been with me ever since.

When U2 toured behind the "How to Dismantle..." CD, I would've paid ANYTHING to see them. I was in collegeand was paying for everything with loans, I had no money that was mine at that point. When I bought my ticket, I paid $50 for the show. Not only did that $50 get me a seat on the floor, it got me a front row seat in the "gold circle". I was front row at U2, and this was the tour event of the year. There was so much of a demand for this show that the band had to use the Grammys as a platform to apologise to the fans that didn't get a chance to get tickets.

At roughly the same time, Madge was on tour. That $50 wouldn't have even gotten me nosebleed seating at her show. And coming down from the "American Life" debacle, Madge might have gotten away with giving her fans a break. But her tickets were so absurdely priced that I never would've even considered going to her show. Not to mention that she only played the biggest US cities and U2 played EVERYWHERE, and EVERYWHERE sold out.

My point is, you can still be a "name" artist, and give the fans a break every now and again. U2 did have more expensive seats (I think $120 was the top ticket price), but I paid a mere fraction of that and ended up front row.

My NIN fandom has waned since I was 15, but I still think Trent is on the right page with this. Why bleed the hardcore fans that are always going to be there? Fuck the pop crowd; they're fickle, and as soon as the next big thing comes along, they're going to ditch you with yesterday's garbage.

I still buy every Madge CD faithfully on the day of release, and I'd still love to see her in concert, but I don't feel the same connection to her that I do with U2. I feel that they're still trying to earn my fandom, whereas she's just trying to exploit it.

I understand trent working out but how deep is that tan? Looks like trent is getting into the sun beds...

but seriously he right to a degree the hardcore fans get riped off but often those hardcore fans aren't buying for the quality of the tunes but to support their 'favourite' artist. This favour could be attributed to factors outside of great tunes.
What's a MAXI single? Is it one of those EP length singles with 5 or 6 songs, mostly remixes maybe a b-side and live version too?

rainman1985 said:

sunspots!