Trent Reznor Miffed About Lack Of Payed Downloads

A lot has been said about the big pile of money Radiohead received directly from their fans for downloads for the most recent In Rainbows release. It might just have fluffed up the ego of other outfits now thinking "I can make a million dollars, and I don't need a record company to do it!" Unfortunately, not everyone can be Radiohead, nor is capable of creating the same hype and frenzy, though this knowledge is not going to stop them from trying. Enter Trent Reznor, who put on a shirt to produce rapper/poet/activist/actor/"if there were any justice in the world guy who I wouldn't just be stalking via internet" Saul Williams' most recent record, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust.

Reznor followed a business model similar to Radiohead's own "suck it, record company" for Williams' release, by allowing the music for free download and those big spenders willing to part with five bucks would access better files. Although NME reports that 28,322 listeners have paid so far (Williams' last effort sold a total of 33,897 copies), Reznor is crying off the rest of his eyeliner because about 120,000 didn't pay. Apparently, despite his superficial darkness and dour lyrics, Reznor had a pretty high opinion about humanity and was disappointed when people took what he offered for free, which, let's be honest here, they would have probably stolen. Correct that; are stealing (those for-pay files have ended up on limewire by now). Williams has yet to comment, or respond to my love poems, but at least he's getting some exposure.