Net Rock Godz to Rock Once More
March 20, 2008
Trent Reznor and Radiohead, the darlings of the wired crowd and anybody who’s so totally against the record industry are teaming up once more to take on record moguls, japanese super villians and parking inspectors.
Reznor V. Radiohead
Or, Reznor Vs. In Rainbows, if you will. As you all know, they’ve both found success experimenting with album price points in a big way, and debuting music online. And rumor has it they’ll both be headlining Lolla ‘08. On top of that, they’re both using online video networks to commission fans to create visual pieces for their records.
From stereogum.com
And despite their similar philisophical bent it still hasn’t stopped Reznor from getting all angsty, claiming to be way more down with mp3’s and the interwebs than those Radiohead dudes.
“I think the way [Radiohead] parlayed it into a marketing gimmick has certainly been shrewd,” Reznor said when speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Michael Atkin. “But if you look at what they did, though, it was very much a bait and switch to get you to pay for a MySpace-quality stream as a way to promote a very traditional record sale.”
Reznor is referring to Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows as lossy 160kbps (max) MP3 downloads, which many would argue are sub-par when compared to DRM-free offerings from Amazon and iTunes Store (both of which offer 256kbps DRM-free music). Furthermore, Radiohead’s album is also no longer offered as a digital download, as the band openly stated that they were still going to rely on traditional labels and distribution channels for the rest of In Rainbows‘ sales.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Reznor continued, “but I don’t see that as a big revolution [that] they’re kinda getting credit for.” In addition to the quality of Radiohead’s MP3s, NIN’s frontman also took issue with the band’s omission of artwork and altogether not taking care of the fans. “To me that feels insincere. It relies upon the fact that it was quote-unquote ‘first,’ and it takes the headlines with it.”
From Ars Technica
It’s just not fair Trent.I’m thinking this might also be the work of our ‘me first’, conspiracy theorist NIN friend.
IT’S SCIENCE PEOPLE.
