Nine Inch Nails returned to play two postponed shows in Sydney – and Trent Reznor has caused more controversy and headlines.
Trent Reznor returned to his old label-stomping ground in Sydney and volleyed one of the most defiant verbal assaults on a label by a major label artist ever recorded on video.
Basically – if you’re getting ripped off, just steal music ! (as Trent put it)
The record companies have to get it thru their head !
“Lots and lots and lots of familiar faces..Is there anybody here tonight that wasn’t at Luna Park last night?
I talked a lot last night; tonight I’m not talking so much. I know, I know…
I woke up this morning and I forgot where I was for a minute.
I remember last time I was here, I was doing a lot of complaining about the ridiculous prices of CDs down here.
And the story got picked up and got carried all around the world and now my record label all around the world hates me because I yelled back at them – called them out for being greedy f**king assholes.
I didn’t get the chance to check – has the price come down at all?
[Crowd yells “NO”]
I see a no, a no, a no, a no…anybody…has anyone seen the price come down?
[Crowd yells “NO” again]
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 motherf**kers will get it through their head that they’re ripping people off and that’s not right.
Bet we didn’t make any friends by saying that”
And this – from The Age :
Reznor, a self-confessed illegal downloader, has been campaigning to have CD prices reduced since May when, on the band’s website, he noted Year Zero sold in Australia for $34.99, compared with an Avril Lavigne album costing $21.99.
He said a Universal Music rep told him the price was so high because Nine Inch Nails fans would buy the record regardless of its cost.
“No wonder people steal music,” Reznor wrote.
This month before a concert at the Beijing Pop Festival he said: “It does not seem to be easy to obtain Western music via legal channels, so I have the following suggestion for our fans: if you can find and buy our legal CDs, I express my thanks for your support. If you cannot find it, I think that [illegally] downloading from the internet is a more acceptable option than buying pirated CDs.”
Reznor told his Chinese fans that Nine Inch Nails would put out one last album for Universal, after which it would sell directly to fans through its website for as cheaply as $4 an album.
It’ll be interesting to see/hear the backlash from this outburst. He could become a pioneer in record-company-less music. $4 a CD – many, many people would buy it – and go see him on tour.
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