NINE INCH NAILS Mainman Might Favor Internet Tax

January 14, 2008

The Pulse of Radio reports: NINE INCH NAILS mainman Trent Reznor told CNET.com in an interview late last week that he might favor the idea of a tax added to monthly Internet Service Provider (ISP) fees as an income stream for artists whose music is downloaded for free. Reznor explained, "I think if there was an ISP tax of some sort, we can say to the consumer, 'All music is now available and able to be downloaded and put in your car and put in your iPod and put up your ass if you want and it's $5 on your cable bill.'"

Reznor made his comments while discussing the release of "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust" by hip-hop poet SAUL WILLIAMS.

Reznor issued the album as a digital download through his own label, offering a lower-quality copy for free and a higher-quality one for five dollars. He revealed last week that just one in five people paid for the higher-quality version, calling the results "disheartening."

Reznor told CNET.com, "I think if we could wave a magic wand and do it again I think (we would) offer an inexpensive version in addition to a premium physical product that could be shipped out afterward."

NINE INCH NAILS is currently unsigned after Reznor's contract with Interscope Records expired last fall. He said that future NIN albums would probably be released as both a digital and physical product a la RADIOHEAD.

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