Break/Tr(n)igger

Since TR was so kind to post a download link to the two I-have-no-idea-how-that-has-happened leaked songs from Saul Williams’ new album I finally gave up and clicked on it. And whohaaaaaaaaaa I love what I hear! In two days I’ll have the whole set :) I can’t wait to read the lyrics.

To pay or not to pay for music?

A new entry in TR’s blog on the Spiral:

10/27/07 : Standing in the shower, thinking...

What I woke up thinking about today.
What I WANT to do is crawl inside my own head and just make music. I've begun work on a new NIN project and the door to the cave I will soon crawl in is open and beckoning, but these last few weeks I've had to be a businessman. On occasion I don't mind wearing that hat and becoming immersed in numbers and strategies and whatnot, but all I really want to do is make music.
Why have I been in business-mode lately? Glad you asked. See, the music business has imploded and nobody knows what to do. As an artist finally free from any obligations to a record company, I can do pretty much anything I want to - but what should that be?

How do you (in this order):
A. Be sure to place and keep yourself in a nurturing, creative space that inspires your art
B. Then determine how to present that to your audience in an appropriate fashion that's respectful to both you the artist AND them.
C. Ideally do that in a way where it makes financial sense.

I highly doubt whether the strategy Saul and I chose to release his new record will be a viable business model for the road ahead. We didn't do this as a "get rich quick" scheme. We did it because it felt (and feels) like the best way to get the most people to have the opportunity to hear what we consider to be an important record. It feels like the best approach as of October 2007 with the current set of circumstances in the "marketplace" (I hate that fucking word.) We did it because it kept the art PURE and it involved NO compromises regarding the content or the way it was presented to you. No iPod commercials, no ringtone giveaways, no billboards, no Best Buy exclusive content... and one could argue no exposure.
That's the problem. How do you get the word out to as many people as possible and maintain your integrity in the process?
We assumed that by releasing the record this way it would generate some press interest, and it has. We hope that people will be curious enough to download and listen to the record, and yes - we hope people will choose to pay for it.
I have to say I've been amazed at some lengthy conversations I've seen on fan BBs regarding the decision to pay or not. People who are interested enough to register and frequent boards dedicated to an artist's work really having to weigh out whether or not it's worth $5 for an hour of new music. Has music really and truly been devalued that much? $80 is a decision, $5 is not.

All of that aside, our secret weapon is the record itself. It is what it is and that's what people will be talking about long after the story of the business around it fades away.
Speaking of business... I'm done speaking (or thinking) about it for the day. I'm going to make some noise.

Good day,
TR

When the money in question is 5 USD then it’s not a money issue. 5 bucks is not even discussable-that’s approximately the price of a cappuccino at Starbucks or a pack of cigarettes. So the way I see it is not about whether people can afford to pay those money; it’s about the choice people make what to spend their money on. Case closed. Everyone that keeps arguing about it is nothing but a hypocrite. I hate hypocrites. And I don’t use the “H” word lightly.

I already paid my 5 dollars last Friday; and I pre-ordered Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D. It's good to have a credit card. Paying is the only way to show appreciation for the music.

Dark mood...

...is like a dark clowd covering the sun-it comes and then it goes away. Remember it when your sun isn't shining bright.

Trick and treat

A few pieces of chocolate can have an incredible effect on the spirit! But really it’s not the chocolate to “blame” for my excitement today. More good news from nin.com: TR has finally finished work on Saul Williams’ album that’s due to hit the Internet in less than a week; a thoughtful and caring person has already uploaded a torrent from that album; TR is acting surprised (really?! Let me refresh my memory; weren’t you who said “Steal it!”? Yeap! Fans would do anything you say! :))))))). Anyway, it’s a fine shiny morning and I feel good.

I hope I’m not going to be the only one to pay for Saul Williams. “Steal it” he said…no, thank you, not me.

No name

Two people live in me: a rational and a spiritual. The one is in charge of the daily routine; the other one takes care of the real me. Body and soul severed and yet one. As if I can see the whole world at once. Time flies fast and yet it keeps still. A minute filled with emotions lasts an hour. Work is not a burden nor a distraction because it isn’t me who is doing it; it’s just my body and my reflexes. That is the key to happiness: to feel unattached to anyone or anything in specific and to everyone and everything in general; to want not to obtain but to share what you have; to want not to possess but to be grateful for what comes to you and then let go. People collect to build walls around them instead of giving away and leaving the door open.

Maybe someone has put tranquilizers in my green tea today :)

Gloomy

People with their little minds chewing over their little problems cackling as if it’s the world’s greatest tragedy pumping up their ego until their self-importance overshadows their common sense (if they have any at all in the first place) and the very much forgotten morality, nobility, dignity. What is the definition of humanity? Is it enough to be conceived and born by a human to be one? Sometimes as if I can see all the sadness in the world than no one else sees and I can hear all the screams that no one else hears. And that makes me so lonely that I almost wish I’ve never been born; as if all the moments of happiness are merely an illusion to full the mind about the true nature of people.

NIИ-CSI connection

I’ve been only reading about it until last night when I saw an episode from CSI: New York and it started with “The hand that feeds”! Whohaaaaaaaa! They fit perfectly !!!

Doggy :)

My father took the camera for a couple of weeks and when I got it back I found on it the pictures of 3 stray dogs that keep him and my mum company every time they go fishing. Beutiful photos, amazing animals:





And also the son
of
my parents' dog Lara :

Oldfashioned

My desires get simpler with age. For sometime I have that fantasy that I’ll take a week off from work that I’ll spend doing nothing but reading. Maybe nowadays such a desire is not that simple as it seems at first.

News keep on coming

to my surprise and undoubted joy faster than expected. The day started with a new update on the upcoming and to be released on Nov 20 Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D album easier referred to as The Year Zero remix album. Quote: “It also contains a DVD ROM (not a movie) that contains every track from Year Zero in multitrack format for you to do with what you please. Mac or PC.”

I’m not in the least interested in that but apparently the issue has been commented by fans which has made TR to update the update with that: “**insert comment from NINSUX: "I thought he said all the multitracks were going to be posted online, now he wants us to PAY for them??" Relax, friend. One second after this package goes to the manufacturing plant someone will kindly upload those missing multitracks and everything will be OK. If they don't soon enough for your liking, just yell loudly out the window and I'll do it myself.”

My only comment to that is :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

This is now

I’m bursting with energy; my mind is ticking; everything seems so simple that I don’t need to talk about what’s in my head-it would be like saying that water is wet. It started yesterday-I was walking home after work, my head felt heavy with fatigue and discouragement and all of a sudden I felt at peace with myself and the world around.

It feels strange; it feels good. I don’t know if that’s what happiness is but it suits me just fine.

And thank you Dee Dee for showing me Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha; there aren’t that many people among those I know that I could talk freely about those changes and that book gives me comfort and reassurance that I’m not losing my mind.

A NIИ update AT LAST !

08 October 2007: Big News

Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.

posted by Trent Reznor at 10:45 AM

This is going to appear on every NiN fan's blog :)))))))))

A blank day

There’s something evil in the air today. I’m picking only bad vibes; people look mean; I witnessed a couple of scandals; no one of my…errr, friends (?) returned my messages; what’s happening?! One of “those” days, I guess.

Hello; my name is Vera and I am a "Cancer" :)

My horoscope for today says “You may find yourself presented with an opportunity to help someone else today.” And so it was! And I really hope that the thoughts I shared will be of help. When my friends are happy I’m happy too.

Beginnings

Every day seems like a beginning. “Yesterday” is forgotten; “tomorrow” is still unknown; it’s “today” that matters.

I want so much to believe...

Is it naive to believe that love is the answer? Is it better to believe in that than to believe in nothing?

Am I really one of you?

People spend most of their time in useless battles with other people or themselves just to please their ego. There’s no winner. Stupid people.

I feel like a kid today

so naive and open to the wonders of the world. I don't know where that road might take me to as long as I enjoy the ride. Maybe it’s my illness to “blame”-I feel dizzy all the time, half awake, half asleep.