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With his band’s new release last month, Year Zero, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor has been feeling the pain that DRM has been causing for record sales. Here’s what Reznor had to say on his blog:
As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:
* The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne’s record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US).
By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: “It’s because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out – you know, true fans. It’s the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.”
So… I guess as a reward for being a “true fan” you get ripped off.
Trent Reznor is right, labels are ripping people off. If you have to discount a pop CD to get it to sell, then maybe its not worth making in the first place. Since you are trying to make more money off of really good music, then maybe you should take the money you saved NOT making the pop cd and use it to discount the really good music. I’d be happy to give Trent $35 for Year Zero if I could give HIM the money, and keep the label out of the transaction. I think his music is worth it. I will never pay that much in a store tho.