The Daily Swarm

Reznor: But then went through a phase of feeling very bad and violated by the fact that people felt it was their right to steal your art. It’s like I’d like to be compensated for the hard, hard work I put into this. And just because you’re able to steal it doesn’t mean it’s OK to steal it. I used to stand behind this kind of bullshit line of do you think it’s OK to steal Photoshop? I did it, but that feels like I shouldn’t have done that.

Rose: To steal the program you mean? Photoshop?

Reznor: Yeah, I mean somehow that seemed different than a song, you know. But what I’ve come to realize, you know, since it can’t be stopped — and I blame that on an outdated concept of what copyright law is in the way of ownership. Primarily the greed of the record industries have not — their own greed has prevented them from adopting any solution that would give people what they want. People want to listen to a lot of music and do whatever they want with it. They don’t want DRM, they don’t want subscriptions. They don’t want a player that only can do this but can’t do that and you only have one copy. They don’t want that. You know? I don’t want that. And they’re so rooted in this outdated business model that they’re not willing to give up their CEO salaries or their Lear jets or their ridiculous overdone staff or their lion’s share of the cut of records that get sold. And so, a couple years ago I kind of realized that music essentially is free now. I’d prefer if it wasn’t. But it is. And being on the other side of that argument is a losing battle. And once you kind of get your head around — it’s not a flawless thing, because I think the songwriter he’s more fucked in this scenario. But applying it to my own life, hey I’ve had a pretty good run. I can still make a living with touring. And maybe you buy a t-shirt. And I would rather 10 million people get my record and listen to it for free than 500,000 that I coerced to pay $15 for it, you know? And I think given the state of the way the industry is right now, the only way to look at it is I think what Prince is doing. I think Radiohead if they would have executed it better could have — you know the idea is right. Eliminate this dinosaur in the corner that’s primarily taking all your money, based on a thieving business model, and are making enemies out of the people that they’re customers. You know, that’s ridiculous. I mean if you’re going to go after someone go after ISPs. Don’t go after somebody that — what good is that going to do?