Want some cheese with that whine Reznor?

If Radiohead hadn’t stepped out and shown it could be done, Reznor may not have even tried this.
And since they were the first, it’s ridiculous to think they’d execute it perfectly.
Radiohead gave their fans music directly while they had no label to distribute it at the time. That hardly seems insincere, especially when they gave people the option to practically not pay for it.

Who cares? if you didn’t pay anything for the Radiohead album on October 10, you didn’t get ripped off. Personally, I bought one of those discboxes (hella nice).

And that new NIN is sooo good. Even if the whole album does sound like film scores.

For the record, Reznor has been planning on doing the whole online release thing long before In Rainbows hit the headlines (he wasn’t able to do so sooner due to meeting obligations with his record label- which he was desperate to get out of). However, in Radiohead’s defense- Sure- the bitrate wasn’t top-notch, granted- the online release didn’t include any artwork, etc. But fans were able to pay whatever they wanted for In Rainbows, and people knew what they were getting themselves into (with announcements of bitrates & what not), as opposed to NIN who offered the whole proposed package at one set price. I’m not saying the Ghosts package wasn’t worth the price, but you gotta give it to Radiohead for giving the world a chance to at least listen to one of the most anticipated releases of this past year for next to nothing.

Want some originality with that cliched comment Buggie Owens?

Geez. I mean, why knock Radiohead? I see his point, but…Trent is such a jock.

I downlode that album by Trent Razor and it be very good. But I dont agree with Mr. Razor that Radiohead be insincere in that it be is a bait and switch because Radiohed be the first to offer fans a downlode for any price. It may be low quality but your price also can be low. Mr. Razor seem jelous that he no first to do this and should be not diss the Radiohed. Both albums is good and if they be play together at the Lolapalosa festival they need to get along better and Razor need to get over this. I like how both stick it to the greedey major lable companys who just look at there profits and not look at suckcess of musical peoples.

Well, when Reznor is anywhere near the calibre of the great Radiohead, maybe then I will listen to his face.

Can’t say I can identify with Trent’s point about Radiohead… what does make me happy though is the ability to purchase great albums from 2 of my favorite bands at decent prices and without giving a penny to a greedy record label.

I agree that RH being “insincere” sounds like a bit of a stretch. However he’s spot on in criticizing that: 1. Paying downloaders of RH “In Rainbows” dealt with slowness/site outages to ultimately get 160kpbs MP3s only to find the album later available via Amazon DL for the same price in higher quality VBR MP3 format (yuck) 2. As he stated, the RH album download did not contain album artwork or any bonus PDF booklets etc like his (which would’ve been a dead simple best-practice approach for RH to take). In the end it’s good for us listeners that Reznor is holding forth a high standard for what the average artist-direct download experience should live up to. This kind of stance by artists will hopefully lead to higher quality, fair-price digital product delivery. I downloaded and enjoy both albums and appreciate the lack of DRM etc.

I downloaded In Rainbows and Ghosts and I’m happy with both.

Not sure Trent’s slam on Radiohead was necessary. Fans were told what they were getting AND they set their own price.

If anyone would know from insincere, it’s Trent Reznor. He’s made a killing on peddling his phony baloney “deep thoughts” for nearly 20 years. This musclehead is one of the great con artists in the history of schlock & roll.

i was beyond excited about being able to download in rainbows as soon as it was available. i didn’t have an issue with the quality and as for artwork, those of us that want the artwork are big enough fans to purchase the album in real life too. i don’t think it’s smart or fair to insult the integrity of radiohead, as much as i love nin i’m pretty disappointed in trent’s comments. he seems to bash a band everytime he’s got an album coming out, like he did with franz ferdinand.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever read about Radiohead bashing anyone.

i d/led in rainbows for free as i am creditless and then purchaced the album in support of the best band on earth. radiohead are geniuses and trent is several notches below their genius and i suspect a slight superiority complex mixed in with some envy.

I agree with Trent’s comment.
Yes, radiohead is good, but so is NIN. Nine Inch Nails just cares a little more about the fans. I think that radiohead download was crappy quality. And yes I paid for both.

Trent did not slam radiohead. He just said that he wished it would have been better quality and I agree. I like Radiohead, but I love the passion Reznor has for his fans.

what’s with all the artwork?when you buy a CD at the store,what do you do?do you just run home to take the package apart and look through the cool pictures and read the lyrics FIRST?chances are, you take the cd out, and LISTEN to it, cause that’s what you’re paying for, the music.I can understand that in the case of missing artwork you would start wondering where the hell it is, but in the case of In Rainbows, their website didn’t say, “we have an album coming out and we promise you there will be artwork”they just let you decide what to pay,and you got exactly all you need from a great band like that:music.Now shut up and enjoy it while you’re able to.

when HTTT leaked, it was unmixed…no complaints….IR is leaked by radiohead, and mostly semi fans complain….

NIN was good, than Trent, as of now, started being a douche because of the amount of money he is making…

i don’t see radiohead EVER talking bad about other bands….well maybe coldplay…but they just kid around…but anyway, they sort of RESPECT other artists by not talking bad….and we TRUE RH fans are THANKFUL for EVERY new material we get from them, because they take a while, because at least they give us a FULL album….

by the way, Myspace quality is MUCH lower than what RH gave…get your facts straight Trent….URGH!!!!

Read Radiohead managers comments. I bought IR day one then this idiot comes out and says they INTENTIONALLY limited the quality so they could sell a CD withy additional tracks! I love Radiohead…why wouldnt you tell me that first! I felt jobbed but I bet the band didnt even know about it. At least Trent, who I also love, seems to pay attention

This is incredibly bad reporting by rolling stone, as usually, rather than trent “slamming” in rainbows. pointless sensationalism designed to piss off radiohead fans. mission succeeded, mr dumb writer of this.

I wish journalists stoped writing this ‘TR bashes RH’ crap. But they wouldn’t – they’re journalists.

I wish Trent paid more attention to what exactly he says in front of journalists. But he wouldn’t – he never does.

He did say that he’s a fan of RH, so I don’t think it’s disrespect here – just his personal reaction to a low bitrate (the man was an oink user, and oink didn’t allow bitrates below 192; those guys preffered lossless). And maybe yes, a bit of ego… but I don’t care, I love both for what they are.

Let’s not fight

2 kenthebear

yeah, exactly my feelings

God, everyone is taking this “Trent Reznor is bashing Radiohead” thing out of context and put it to extreme.

Here’s the deal about all of this with both facts and, of course, some opinion. Keep in mind that I’m a fan of both Radiohead and NIN.
First, RollingStone is racking up the add-money hits on this site because of a supposed feud they’ve created between two acts who might be sharing the stage at Lollapalooza – Ooooo….feud! I wonder if they’re going to get into a big fight at the show? They’ve taken what was a genuine concern of Trent’s (who has stated many times how much of a big fan of Readiohead he is)and turned it into a dirty little cat-fight so they can garner hits. They’re basically turning two very great artistic acts into Britney and Christina by pulling this shit, and we as fans should be smarter than that to take the cue.

OK, who did what first? Who cares – quick internet distribution by the artist is a good thing. Yes, months before Radiohead did any of this, Reznor had a whole discussion on his fan-site blog about when he gets free from Interscope that he would release his music as soon as it was done on his site in whatever bit-rate you wanted for a small price like $4-$5. Yep, I remember that months before Radiohead did they’re thing. But Radiohead was free to do it first, so they did, and Trent Reznor CHAMPIONED IT ON HIS SITE AND TOLD ALL HIS FANS TO SUPPORT THEIR MOVE: from his blog – “Oh yeah – Radiohead. I’m sure you are all aware of what they are doing with the release of their new record (inrainbows.com). I think it’s a great move and if you’re into them I highly suggest you support what they’re doing with this.” He thought it was a good thing, so did I. He even mentioned that he bought the box set because he was a big fan. I don’t think either of these bands were racing to see who could win the “I released on the radio first” award. It’s just the online noise boxes who’re making this into such a big deal.

Alrighty, on the “bait and switch” thing. I’m a Radiohead fan. I paid $9.10 the first day I could because I thought that was a fair price for a quality album, which is what I’ve always gotten from RH. There was no mention of any later physical work version other than the box, and I was too broke for that. But at the time I thought that I would have gladly paid more if there had been an option to pre-order a physical CD. No mention. and because it was Radiohead for Christ’s sake (always sonic perfection), I assumed it would be a high-quality download, so I paid the price you’d reserve for a good CD. If I had been told that this was to be a “taste” of the music, not meant to be what we’re really listening to, I would have paid a smaller price from the get go. then I get my download link and see it’s only 160 kb. I remember thinking, “WTF? Listen to Radiohead in only 160? This isn’t some crap band here!” And I was a bit disappointed, but I thought , “well, this is all we get, and I want to support them, so why not?” Then the whole thing came out with their manager saying that the download was just to get people to buy the real thing. This thing that Mr. Biggles is talking about: “this idiot comes out and says they INTENTIONALLY limited the quality so they could sell a CD withy additional tracks!” Yeah, I was pissed. I felt like I had been given the old “bait and switch.” And I couldn’t believe a band with the integrity of Radiohead was doing this. Maybe the actual guys in Radiohead didn’t have the final say with that, but the buck does stop with them, and as a fan, I felt shorted.

Yes, Trent Reznor has definitely put his foot in his mouth at times and has said some inappropriate things (many, many inappropriate things at times, lol), but I think he was on the money here by saying the way Radiohead handled this as “insincere.” I certainly felt like it was. I would have liked to have been TOLD that this was a marketing ploy, which is what their manager said it was. I really do wish Reznor would shut his damn mouth about certain things, but I’m glad he spoke up here. And if this had been some band like Fall Out Boy who you know Reznor has no respect for, then it would have been really easy for him to say this. But with how much he’s always gushed over Radiohead (he thinks Kid A is one of the best albums out there), I know he wasn’t saying this just to start shit. I think he was saying this because he truly felt how I did about this, like it wasn’t fair to the fans.

I put way too much effort into that! I should have just gone with what innerveit said: “Let’s not fight.”

But I did feel slighted by the RH thing. and I love RH.

Yeah.. I put too much into that!

i bought in rainbows, i don’t think it’s that good. some people think just because a certain band made it it has to be brilliant. well, it’s not.

i’m sure NIN’s new offering will be much more impressive.

fan bois unite eh? No one bashed anyone, he was simply offering an example to support his own decision. His example does have truth to it. Sure people got shafted in a sense with the Radiohead downloads. I was one of them. The thing is… and we all really know this… we all just pay to hear the album as soon as possible. If Radiohead were to offer the up front choice of a shitty download over a three month wait for a CD, who wouldn’t take the shitty download? Didn’t we all know the bit rate before downloading? NIN offers 320kbps, and you cry because the servers die. Radiohead offers 192, and efficient service, and you cry about quality. It’s was kind of crap to go about like they did, but stop pretending you’re anything other than what you are, people. Consumers. You wanna be more than that, then create something and stop bitching about people who ARE doing something. And the new NIN is amazing. What’s important here is that you’re not supporting some record exec’s coke habit.

in rainbows is merely a decent record. RH fans are too busy slurping the band to judge the album objectively. It’s not that good. There are 20 albums out in the past year that are better.

I’m a FORMER Rolling Stone subscriber and crap articles like this are the reason why. Spend time covering things that really matter with an objective take on things. You guys are really reaching for drama here. You’ve turned into a publication for completely mainstream pop fans…RS died long ago.

get over yourselves: Radiohead’s bit rate was 160, and their server’s had a lot of trouble in the first few days too.

And by the way, I absolutely LOVE In Rainbows, but what Trent is saying is absolutely correct; it was a bait and switch for an inferior version of the album, NO ONE should be charging for 160k mp3’s, (I’m glaring at you, iTunes).

Both albums are great, and both artists should be supported though, so I don’t mind too much.

…and another thing…Trent tries to do something cool, unique and interactive and you have to rain on the parade. I guess it’ll give you more time to stay in bed with Radiohead since you feel that they can do no wrong. By the way, I love Radiohead, but let’s be honest, nothing about “In Rainbows” was revolutionary. It was self-admittedly an album of leftovers they hadn’t released. I’m just confused as to why you aren’t covering the interactive aspects of this story over the juvenile “playground fight” that you’ve amplified this into.

Jeff said…
“I’m just confused as to why you aren’t covering the interactive aspects of this story over the juvenile ‘playground fight’ that you’ve amplified this into.”

Because playground fights garner more advertising-dollar hits to their site.

Hey, it’s Trent Reznor we’re talking about. Second rate talent, second rate mouth, his much needed publicity for a second (at best) rate album, and don’t tell me about how much it sold. there are a lot of misled teens out there. He’s just another version of heavy metal bullshit.

This is poor journalism. In Rainbows was a brilliant album – definitely my favourite album of 2007. But what Reznor is saying is absolutely true. It might be a good idea to give paying customers a better quality file.

But at the end of the day, this is still a very new experiment for these artists, and should be commended. There is bound to be problems found as time goes on.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Wow. Funny how everyone wants to take sides on who started what and who’s band is better. Anyone remember when Jon Crosby of VAST started the whole “download my demos and buy my cd directly off my website”-thing 5 years ago? No. So please, all of you, NIN and Radiohead fans alike, shut up.

Okay, I think that in the true tradition of sensationalist writing, Trent Reznor’s remark is completely taken out of context. I think that I can reiterate that he has always had the utmost respect for Radiohead is is not “knocking” them, per say. He is commenting on the effort regarding their distribution of the new album. Trent Reznor is rather tech-savvy and he has examined the methods of other artists to determine his technique of choice. I am a HUGE fan of NIN and Radiohead and I am hoping to scrounge tickets to Lollapalooza (any takers?)

If Radiohead gave away cd’s i wouldn’t bother taking one!! NIN rule

this is an issue that is just going to cause a flurry of opinions. there’s no “right” and “wrong” way as this is all pretty new.

i like both bands, but the problem is instead of just doing what he does, trent bitches about the profile and level of respect that radiohead get.

he’s done this before: he compared his double album ‘the fragile’ to the two radiohead albums recorded simultaneously but released separately, saying (PARAPHRASED) – “if you look at the sales of those two albums and compare them to the fragile, they sold about the same. and yet the fragile is viewed as somewhat of a failure and radiohead are saving rock music”.

there’s no reason for trent to say ANYTHING about this. radiohead are not his enemies, his old labels were. even if this is getting blown up in headlines by all the media an bloggers…he still opened his mouth and gave them the ammunition.

radiohead at least have the decency to keep their mouths shut. they’ve been slammed for over 10 years in interviews by the likes of blur and oasis and they don’t retaliate. only thing ive ever heard thom say was his recent reply to liam gallagher’s lame “radiohead went to art school” attack – and it wasn’t even shot back at him. it was over his head (possibly literally):
“i did [go to art school]. it taught me to respect other artists”.

seems like both gallagher and reznor should take that advice.