NINE INCH NAILS IS FREE FROM THE GRASP OF RECORD LABELS, AT LAST

Trent Reznor has finally gotten his wish; Nine Inch Nails, after months of crusading against record labels, is free from a record contract at last. Thanks to MetalSucks commenter TTquick for sending us a link to the official Nine Inch Nails website, which has the following message from Trent posted on the front page:

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.

And there you have it. I have to applaud Trent for his continued devotion to his art. While I have no doubt that being completely independent will serve him well and that he will be able to continue his successful career, I can’t help but wonder if he thinks new bands can benefit from a completely independent career. Trent is in the unique position of having benefited from all those major label marketing dollars way back when; can new artists make it completely independently?

-VN