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White Collar Criminals

OZZY AND TRENT REZNOR; OPPOSING VIEWS ON ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING

 Thursday, November 1st, 2007 at 3:04pm by

 

Trent ReznorOzzy

Trent Reznor has made no secret of his scorn for big record labels, and Ozzy Osbourne hasn’t tried to hide his hate for illegal downloaders. It’s interesting to note how much these two highly successful musicians differ in opinion, and how their success has manifested itself in their stances on the current woes of the record industry. If someone asked me to write an SAT-style “compare and contrast” essay on illegal downloading, Ozzy and Trent would be exhibit A. Thankfully I will never have to write the dreaded 5-paragraph essay again; instead ya’ll get my blog rantings. After the jump, we take a look at recent quotes from both Trent and Ozzy, and how we think each will fair in the new world order.

In a recent interview with New York magazine, Reznor (a self-proclaimed OiNK user!) acknowledges that music has been devalued but recognizes the reality of this fact and the need to find a new way forward:

I think it’s just an awkward time right now to be a musician. The reality is that people think it’s okay to steal music. There’s a whole generation of people, that’s all they’ve known. I used to buy vinyl. Today, if you do put out a record on a label, traditionally, most people are going to hear it via a leak that happens two weeks — if not two months — before it comes out. There’s no real way around that. I’m truly saddened because I think music has been devalued, so that it’s just a file on your computer, and it’s usually free. But we can’t change that. What we can do is try to offer people the best experience that we can provide them. Will it work? I don’t know. But I think it’s a great way to get music out to people who are interested. At the end of the day, all I care about is the integrity of the music, and that the feeling of those who experience it is as untainted as possible. I’d rather it not be on an iPod commercial. I’d rather it not be a ringtone that you have to get with a free cell phone or any of that bullshit.

Compare that sentiment to Ozzy’s fear of the future. From a recent interview in Australia’s Herald Sun:

I’ve been suffering terribly from people downloading it [his latest album Black Rain]. If they don’t find something to stop it, people won’t be able to make records. There won’t be any new bands. How are they going to survive? I’m an old-timer, I’ve been doing it 40 years now, but new bands are going to suffer. It’s ridiculous, you could be doing it for nothing. Sharon said I’d be astounded to find out how many bands are touring because you can download a record but you can’t beat a rock show. I’ve never done in a long time as many live shows as I’m doing now. This year I’ve done 90 shows. I mean, I ain’t getting any younger. Sharon says to me ‘Just stand there’. I can’t just f—ing stand there! I’m a moving target. People would aim their can of beer at my head!”

It’s a fair point; Ozzy is old and can’t continue to tour forever, which in a world of illegal downloading is more and more becoming the only solid source of revenue. But at least we now have justification for Ozz’s lame frog-hop / water hose attempts to entertain the audience.

But what have we got from Sharonozzy in recent years in the ways of innovative marketing? This past year’s free Ozzfest was a step in the right direction, but it only helped to further Sharon’s point that Ozzy contended above, that bands are forced into more touring because they can’t sell records — and paying them nothing to play Ozzfest is just perpetuating this growing reality. Instead, Sharonozzy got the big payday through corporate sponsorships of the tour.

Still, that free touring model won’t hold much water in a world where bands NEED to make money on the road to make any money at all. Sharonozzy is obviously fearing the coming record apocalypse, still operating in the old-school world of big marketing dollars, radio and MTV driving record sales. Meanwhile, Reznor recognizes the need to adapt and has seemingly accepted what I’ve been preaching since we started MetalSucks:

EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET USED TO MAKING LESS MONEY.

Sure there will be the occasional superstar and one-hit wonder — but the reality is that most musicians will not attain worldwide ubiquity. Because of an increasingly segmented market thanks to readily available home recording software and the Internet, musicians will make modest livings and will be able to continue their craft, but they will not be able to afford the lavish lifestyles that their past counterparts have enjoyed.

So how does this affect the old folks like Ozzy who can’t go out and tour like they used to? It’s a fair question. But I’ll leave you with this thought; if a chairmaker makes chairs all of his life, he sure as hell doesn’t collect royalties every time someone sits down on a chair he made. When his joints and bones are too old to make chairs anymore, the money stops coming in. Hopefully he saved and invested his money wisely. If not, too fucking bad.

-VN

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  • Fink

    I don’t think people give enough credit to what the Internet has done for music; all you ever hear about is how people are stealing music and making the lives of artists (or the record companies, more importantly) more difficult. People seem to think that somehow it is now MORE difficult for a budding band or artist to get by. The idea that “there won’t be any new bands” is completely ridiculous to me.

    If it wasn’t for the Internet, new bands would have to rely on record labels and promotional companies to ever get heard. The Internet levels the playing field and makes new artists available to the masses, allowing us to hear a far broader spectrum of music. This benefits both the artist and the listener.

    I realize it’s difficult to tour. But bands always had to tour. And they should want to. The best way to experience music is live, whether as a musician in front of a crowd or as part of the crowd. And they also can make money off other merch – t-shirts, clothes, stickers, whatever. Really, it seems to me that all we’ve done is cut out the record labels. Not a big loss, if you ask me.

  • Fink

    shit… that comment was way too long… no one’s ever gonna read that…. haha

  • TedTedPoleyPoley

    ha, i agree w/ Fink, i stopped reading at ” ; “.

    btw i can’t completely agree that “Black Rain” isn’t selling because of illegal downloading, who are we kidding. i believe in that statement as much as i believe the previous Sevendust story about their Roseland Ballroom’s gig cancellation due to imminent “utility repairs” problem :-P

  • ERiK

    A new band pays out of their own pocket to tour. The clubs pay nothing, no one shows up, no one buys merch unless a band is BIG. By that I mean that your average person will buy something from a Celebrity – someone they see in magazines, on tv, hear on radio. The only way a band achieves minor celebrity status is through a label. The same band unsigned – worthless. No one cares.

    Music is just another business just like owning a resteraunt. There’s nothing special about music – people need to get over this high art concept of music.

    Musicans love to play music just like a Chef likes to cook. Imagine a chef who slaves all day in his restaraunt. He cooks amazing food. The patrons come in and eat all his food. They love it, and the chef is proud. The patrons all give the chef and staff praise, high fives, and thumbs up. Then they walk out with full bellies and smiles on their faces and don’t pay a dime. As much as the chef loves cooking food he’s proud of and doing a service to the culinary art, he goes out of business and has to find a job to survive.

    That’s reality. Internet people are so fucked up. I understand you’re all consumers and want everything for free, but life doesn’t work like that. It’s just common sense.

    Finally, just like 911 was an inside job, the government is all about the destruction of the music industry. If they wanted to, they could end all file sharing sites. People that think the government can’t stop file trading sites also believe that Iraq had WMDs. The internet is so traceable, they could shut down Limewire in 10 seconds. The government wants the music industry to crumble. Music is one of the only things that can stand up to government. So, get rid of the music industry. Let the next Jim Morrison or John Lennon spend his career playing cover songs at the corner bar for a living.

    Old fart bands that the record labels have already made celebrities can tour and charge $150 for tickets. New unsigned bands are nobodies. No club will pay them a dime, the 5 people that show up won’t even generate enough money in merch sales to buy a happy meal. Touring for new bands is a money losing (but fun, yeay) experience. Get that through your fucking heads. And you know this Vince.

  • Wayne

    Yes, Ozzy, “Black Rain” is suffering because of the Internet, not because it’s a godawful record.

  • http://myspace.com/catatonicdisassembly Nick

    I think the question everyone should be asking themselves (or maybe scaring themselves with) is, what did we do BEFORE record companies? Because that’s all that’s being eliminated. The “hype” machines that tell you “hey buy this”.

  • ERiK

    They played in cover bands dude. Jazz, blues, classical, folk, whatever paid the bills. Music was just a job like plumbing or working at a factory.

    remember, back then there were no records, juke boxes, etc. If you wanted to hear music, you had to hear live music.

    It was a totally different time. Sheet music used to be a big deal back then before records were invented.

  • http://www.myspace.com/freaksystemband Sammy

    I thought Ozzy’s water hose/bucket dumps on himself were due to his incontinence and desire to hide this fact from the audience (because he refuses to wear adult diapers on stage). No really, actually that’s the semi-legitimate rumor.

  • http://www.myspace.com/freaksystemband Sammy

    The internet is the greatest invention ever for musicians to share their music with the world. But, downloading someone’s copyrighted material without paying for it is no different than slipping a CD in your pocket at a record store. If any of you schmucks wrote a novel and had it published, and some other schmuck photocopied the whole thing and put it on his website for all to download, I’m not sure you’d be all that happy about it. I realize we have libraries, with free access to books, but authors and musicians have a right to not have their work be stolen.

    So the web is a great tool, but it’s also the reason so many musicians have become merchandise, greatest hits, special edition release whores. Should they all just do it for free live in a traveling van forever?

  • http://www.hibernum.net Hibernum

    Let’s face it people, there are a ton of crappy bands out there. Bright eyed kids with dreams of “making it big”. No one dreams about “making it big” as a plumber. So reality is finally crashing down.

    And let’s be honest about another thing, most of the rich and famous “musical performers” (i refuse to call that skank Aguilera a musician) are not in rock music. The day of rock music is over. There will never be another Led Zepplin or Pink Floyd selling 10 million albums.

    So what does that all mean? It means dumb drop out kids won’t be dreaming about getting rich with a guitar. It means the internet won’t be clogged with jack offs who just learned “fade to black” 2 months ago. The people that are really serious and dedicated will stick around, and probably paint houses on the side, because as Vince said we will have to get used to making less money. Hopefully the positive side of this is that big timey acts like Fergie go bust and sell nothing and make nothing, and the fat cat record execs won’t be able to cruise around in private jets.

    To fit the chef analogy, no one pays for dinner and the restaurant closes, but that doesn’t stop the chef from cooking. Lack of customers didn’t stop Van Gogh from painting did it? Its not so bad people.

  • ERiK

    Great comments. I agree w/ Sammy that the internet is a great revolution for music all except for mainstream illegal downloading. Get rid of that, and it’s a great system. Legal downloads are a dream come true for a band. No cost in the physical replication of a cd, pure profit.

    Hibernum, I’m right there w/ ya. A chef can still cook for his friends and his family. Just like the next Randy Rhodes can write songs for himself, his friends and family, work a 40-50 hour a week job,and play local shows a few times a month with some local guys.

  • http://newghosts.com Shnaz

    The internet is a blessing and a curse for music in general. The blessing is that you have access to anything you want all the time. The curse is that most of it sucks. The good thing about record labels is that they filter out to talent-less wannabes…unless a particular talent-less wannabe has some degree of sex appeal. Some record label execs were actually pretty smart and actually knew what good music was and wasn’t—the first record any of us ever heard was probably a major label record by a big name band—unless you’re super cool.

    I think this is only the first phase of a massive shift in the way music is delivered to the public. Someone somewhere down the line is going to figure out how to make money in a new way without having to tour for two solid years eating stale Ramen noodles in the back of a brokedown Econoline van.

  • TTquick

    The fact that Vince and Axl get somewhere around 50 shitty demos a month is a testament to the fact that record companies sift through the shit and give us whats good or perceived as good. Without the record companies around it would be musical anarchy. Right now on Limewire there are 6000 unsigned unheard of bands. Even more on MySpace. Who wants to sift through the crap to find the one good band. I’ll rely on friends, magazines, record company ads, and sites like this to clue me on on whats good. When was the last time any of us found an unsigned band truly good enough to share with friends? It doesn’t happen often.

    And to be honest, I hate record companies. The business model is failing, bands get screwed, and they generally charge too much per disc. But I realize their importance.

  • http://myspace.com/carnalus carnalus

    Good music will always be music, but radio music is totally industrialized now: the customer is simple and stupid and so is the product. I think, sadly, that good music is going to die out and the only music left will be radio music. The industry will likely tighten their grip on file-sharing long enough to help ease out the remnants of the last generation, but I think we’re going to see an industry dominated by commercial appeal and money paid by the artists to market their products on the radio and MTV (the highest bidder gets the most airplay when they first release a single…remember that the next time some new song you can’t stand is on the radio every hour…they are paying out the ass to force that song down your throat. eventually, everyone loves it, even if it sucks, and the artist doesnt have to pay to get their song played anymore. the radio station gets their money from advertisements that know people will listen to the radio for the shitty songs. Promotion substains nothing but people with money in the first place…so new bands are fucked unless they know someone that isn’t willing to screw them over in the process of making them.

  • Jammer

    The problem with the internet is that it exposes many new bands/singers etc. Unfortunately many it not most of them have no business making a record at all, before the cut and paste computer based method of making a record you used to need talent and sadly this is one of the things no longer required.

  • NuMallCore Pwns YoMama

    Ozzy’s album isn’t selling because it sucks. I cringe every time I hear “I don’t wanna stop”. He may not want to, but he should. That’s coming from a long time Ozzy fan.

    Trent, on the other hand, put out a highly creative album and a really unique promotion to help push it. I’m definitely interested to see how he does with the follow-up to Year Zero.