Reznor Takes Connecting With Fans Mobile... For Free
from the nice-job dept
While my keynote presentation today at the Mesh Conference does mention Trent Reznor, luckily (for me) it's not the same presentation I did at MidemNet... because, if it was, I'd have to do a last minute update on the presentation to take into account the new iPhone app that Reznor is releasing, which basically takes all of the features from the NIN website, and enables it on the iPhone... and then adds in a neat bit of location-based info so fans can find each other, or know where other fans happen to be. And, oh yeah, despite all the fuss about charging for iPhone apps, he's releasing it for free -- realizing that better enabling fans to connect will only help him further monetize other things later. The overall article is a great read as well, digging deeper into Reznor's experiments, business model and thoughts on the process:"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't think music should be free. But the climate is such that it's impossible for me to change that, because the record labels have established a sense of mistrust. So everything we've tried to do has been from the point of view of, 'What would I want if I were a fan? How would I want to be treated?' Now let's work back from that. Let's find a way for that to make sense and monetize it."He's making the same point we've been making. It's no longer about whether or not music "should" be free. That doesn't matter any more. For most people it is free. So once you accept that, you start looking for ways to do more with it -- and Reznor is doing much more with it than just about anyone else.
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Filed Under: connecting with fans, iphone, nine inch nails, trent reznor
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I'm Curious
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He can afford to be wrong, which makes it possible for him to be a "leader". it isn't like suddenly he won't have anyone at the shows, because those evil shiny discs made sure he is well known.
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I took the quotes off the word leader, because that's exactly what he is.
Innovation is the key here. He may be rich enough to do these, but other bands are not. Which is perfect for them as they'll adapt what does work for Trent to their business model(s).
This saves the garage band's bucket load of money, which as you said, should be there given people pay for their works. Given all this money they have, using Trent's ideas will make them more of it.
Hopefully leading to a contract which strips them of their rights to their own music, lost control of distribution, and earning pennies on the dollar, and whining about how the distributor is hurting fans.
>:)
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I am saying that Trent can afford to try things that may or may not work. He has sold out concert tours (courtesy of the pushers of shiny plastic discs) such that he has the luxury to test the water and do things without concern for finding income to start with.
It's sort of like twitter or facebook - with enough VC behind you, finding actual income is secondary to "connecting with an audience".
Actually, if you look at the quote, it seems that Trent would be happier selling music, and is doing these things not because he thinks the shiny disc market is a bad way to do things, but rather because the price of music has gone to zero because of all the "infringing".
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For smaller bands, they don't have the money to experiment. This is why no one blames the bands for the state of the industry. Rather, the recording companies, which have PLENTY of cash to try and find something new, are to blame as they are not even trying. Instead, they're fighting tooth and nail against anything and everything that might cut into their model of "sell music, go to bank."
In other words, you have just made exactly the point that most people around here are trying to make clear. The old model is dead, time to find a new one. If the industry would funnel their billions into finding a new model instead of preserving the old one we might be getting somewhere. As is, they're just wasting money being the Larry and Richard to their business model's Bernie.
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It's sort of like twitter or facebook - with enough VC behind you, finding actual income is secondary to "connecting with an audience".
VC financing is not divorced from 'actual income,' it's just usually longer visioned than the usual sources. (CF google.)
(and yeah, I know that quote wasn't your actual sentiment, so I'm not going to actually make the shirt. It's still funny, though. Admit it.)
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Sometimes, just connecting with the fans is reason enough.
If you paid any attenion, you would realize this.
This is the first time I have felt bad about not owning an iphone.
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Reznor happens to be an extremely sharp businessman, besides being a musician. If he wanted to, I have no doubt he could make many, many millions by going into the promotion business full-time. He has the potential, if he chooses, to head up a huge challenge to traditional labels.
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Also, your entire first paragraph is bullshit.
Every day, in every industry, people are getting new ideas and trying them out. They are taking risks in order to do what they love, or make money. (Both for the lucky ones.) They are opening up consulting businesses with crazy payment schemes (Floor64), design firms with crazy schemes (DesignLawton), and old, old, companies are going in new, crazy directions (Seiko Corporation and Paragon).
Trent Reznor just has more publicity and is doing it in an industry that was incredibly locked down compared to, oh say, ANY OTHER industry, so it looks wilder.
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Actually, it was his demo / sampler record that make him well enough known to get a real record deal, and only after that real record deal did he become well known. Realistically, NIN wasn't even a band until the first album got released. But that is just history.
Trent has publicity, he has a very strong and exceedingly loyal fan base, and has played to many in that fan base by allowing them to remix songs, to get demos, remixes, and allowed them to interact with the music. But all of this came after NIN had major success and massively levels of income from touring and other activities (including the promotion of Marilyn Manson). With a huge pile of money and a bit of a geek mentality, Trent has sunk right into his audience and become one of them.
He is a rare player in the game.
He is also affluent, and more than willing to spend that money to run all sorts of ideas up the flag pole. Most of them don't pan out or don't give truly the desires results (as witness by the fact that his latest couple of albums are not doing so well in sales, aren't charting as high, etc) and that the vast majority of NIN music on radio these days is the older stuff, not the newer material.
He does have incredible momentum on his side, which can cause some to mistake this momentum for success on any of his "ideas". So in many ways, it is really hard to tell how much is "new ways of doing things" succeeding, or just the hangover of the old ways being focused somewhere else.
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wasnt his album the highest selling on amazon last year? that, to me, doesnt suggest 'not doing so well'
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I have said before that I am a long, long, long time NIN fan, and unlike many I have paid for pretty much every disk (including some rarities picked up in Japan). The last few albums have left me less than impressed, With Teeth started a downward trend and I just haven't enjoyed much since. I would say that sales, chart positions, and radio airplay that I hear suggests that other fans are in the same boat.
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???
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Anyway, this is pretty cool, but it's what a lot of business owners fail to do. Anybody can look at the business from their own perspective, but it's really not that hard to see from the consumer's perspective with a little effort. Usually, it's the small business, up-and-coming innovators that utilize this thinking effectively to push out incumbents (or it was, back when we had a free market and businesses were allowed to fail), but it's interesting to see an established player taking the vanguard here. Of course, he doesn't really have much choice, and Reznor seems to understand that better than anyone.
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Hmmm
Who wants one?
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Re: Hmmm
"Trent Reznor is killing music!" - Weird Harold
That tshirt will sell billions.
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"Trent Reznor is killing music!" - Weird Harold
Heh. I may have to actually make that one.
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Weird Harold you are stuck in a microcosm
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Trent Rezner
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