Nine Inch Nails Frontman Was a Member of OiNK
Written by enigmax on October 31, 2007Following the bust of the OiNK BitTorrent tracker, most of its 180,000 members are keeping their heads down and trying to stay inconspicuous. However, Trent Reznor, frontman of Nine Inch Nails isn’t worried: “I had an account there” he said. “it was like the world’s greatest record store.”
The driving force behind the Nine Inch Nails isn’t frightened of talking about file-sharing. Back in May 2007 he admitted to sharing himself: “I steal music too, I’m not gonna say I don’t” he said.
Now Trent has gone public and admitted where he did a lot of sharing – OiNK.
In an interview with New York Entertainment he sent his clearest pro-sharing stance yet. When asked what he thought about OiNK being shutdown, he had this to say:
“I’ll admit I had an account there and frequented it quite often. At the end of the day, what made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world’s greatest record store. Pretty much anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted.”
Everyone knows that OiNK was free to use and this fact was backed up by Trent: “If OiNK cost anything, I would certainly have paid, but there isn’t the equivalent of that in the retail space right now.”
Leveling criticism at professionals who are failing to make a better job of music distribution than OiNK and failing to create a brand which people like to be associated with, Trent explained: “iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don’t feel cool when I go there. I’m tired of seeing John Mayer’s face pop up. I feel like I’m being hustled when I visit there, and I don’t think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc.”
Trent says he prefers Amazon to iTunes but says none of them address the issue of pre-release leaks, calling it a ‘difficult puzzle’. “If your favorite band in the world has a leaked record out, do you listen to it or do you not listen to it?”
The quality uploaders at OiNK get a mention too: “People on those boards, they’re grateful for the person that uploaded it — they’re the hero. They’re not stealing it because they’re going to make money off of it; they’re stealing it because they love the band.”
Underlining the fact that sometimes people pirate because they aren’t getting what they want from the music labels, Trent finishes up: “I’m not saying that I think OiNK is morally correct, but I do know that it existed because it filled a void of what people want.”
And what people seem to want is OiNK replacement sites – and that’s what they seem to be getting.
Need any invites Trent?
Previously: What Waffles? The Hydra Lives On
Next: Mininova Closes Distribution Deal for TV-Show
83 Responses
There was a guy on OiNK with the username “TrentReznor”.
I sent him a PM asking, “Are you really Trent Reznor?” Jokingly, of course. He said no, but winked that he wouldn’t be surprised if TR was on there.
Now I wonder if that _was_ him. That would be a hilarious way to hide.
Awesome news, anyway. I’m eagerly awaiting the Saul Williams album he worked on.
Trent Reznor is quite weathy. Isn’t it a slap in the face of economic principles for him to be pirating music, as well? Sharing is one thing; being stingy is another.
I hope he plans to release his next album free of charge.
This is really cool! Haha, it really makes you think. kk
On an extended note, while the principles of intellectual property rights may very well be subjective, subjectivity does not void you of accountability if you sign-up with a label that practices these principles, and release said intellectual property thereunder. In other words, I’m sure Trent Reznor only believes in intellectual property rights when it’s convenient to him.
I gotta say I don’t like NIN but Trent Reznor is the man. He actually gets it.
i wonder if he downloaded his own music seems how the format was much better than he could find anywhere else!
still hunting an invite!
lyingfromyou2006@yahoo.com
fucking awesome i hope he will be at what.cd
Awesome.
kudos to this guy, most police had an account as well, i bet anything on it
I couldn’t help but notice the “need an invite trent?” at the end. I don’t get it, there were people who uploaded 100+ gigs, who STILL haven’t been updated yet, except him since he’s a celeb he can get in?
Trent Reznor is my hero.
#2 He supported free music by letting people use the studio tracks for remixes that seems pretty kick ass to me.
Hardly a big surprise that celebs/musicians/media use such sites.
I know from experience some of them are the biggest pirates going. ;-)
IRONY.
Trent comes off snobbish, much like many oink users.
Trent Reznor has money, yes. But do not fret, I’m sure he has plenty of money set aside every year to support artists he likes and to make music-related purchases.
Grendel: said the pot to the kettle. Are you suggestion that because he is wealthy that him downloading is any different. He CHOOSES not to support the record industry.
he is well off for monay but maybe he used it to upload his own music (maybe rare or hard to find NIN material or music from his own collection) and used it to get listen to music before deciding to buy it. so pretty much the same as most users on it. OiNK and all sites dedicated to sharing files isnt about stealing music its about sharing music. im pretty sure that most people who are fans of bands after downloading the music will buy it too and even end up becoming fans from downloading music and then buy a cd or ALL that bands albums once they become a fan. there are many bands around today who have their records for sale in shops or on major record labels now and do big tours who wouldnt of even got out of their old town playing in bars if it wasnt for file sharing. has anyone else noticed the wider selection of different artists in major record shops now compared the selection there was 5 years ago?
I’d prefer if he’d refrain from using RIAA-speak and not misuse the well-understood term “stealing”. Nobody has to appreciate file-sharing but demonizing something by false accusations is not going to help your position. In fact, people will stop listening once they realize you don’t understand what you’re talking about.
[quote comment="200493"]Grendel: said the pot to the kettle.[/quote]
My actions do not vicariously justify those of Trent Reznor. I have nothing to do with his decision to download music.
Please take the time to read over my original comment to understand my position more clearly.
[quote]Are you suggestion that because he is wealthy that him downloading is any different.[/quote]
Please read over my comments again.
@final: Yeah, it is pretty lame that someone famous would be seen as more worthy. In the same respect though, if he is promoting the face of p2p and helping the cause then perhaps he is worth more.
It would be hard to judge but in the end everything is just a popularity contest. Who knows if he had good ratio or if he uploaded his own content. Maybe that “Need any invites Trent?” would help to answer those questions.
Artists should make enough money that they can survive comfortably. Beyond that, people start making music for the purpose of money, as opposed to the purpose of making music.
Money is trying to rape music.
Some people seem to misunderstand what Trent is saying. He didn’t love OiNK because he could download for free, but because it simply beat the crap out of any other way of getting music, particularly those offered commercially (CD stores, iTunes) — “the world’s greatest record store” is a perfect description.
Just like him I have no problem paying money for music. Of course I do want to support the artists creating the music I like, but the current distribution schemes the music industry offers are simply so antiquated (neither mp3 sticks nor cell phones nor iPods play CDs) or inconvenient and expensive (why bother with the iTunes store and in the end even pay more than for a CD?).
It could all be so wonderful: Make all music freely available for download and provide an easy way for people to donate for the stuff they like. Only problem: It makes the middle man (i.e. the music industry) almost superfluous, which is why we probably won’t see this anytime soon.
PS: If anyone has a spare invite for a now-homeless ex-OiNker, my address is erna_hausemann@yahoo.de.
Why not reopen OINK (the REAL pink OINK, OINK eats waffles for breakfast!) as a ‘hydra’(see previos article) with 4 or more backup locations? or like OINK1 and OINK2? Supersafe countries where corporate copyrights and record companies have no leverage? Waffles is a good start! I am very sure someone somewhere is making it happen!
OMFG!!!3333!!! does this really surprise people? Artists need free music too :’(. In the electronic scene many popular producers are members of all the big filesharing boards, and most watch how these people like and dislike about there tracks. They are of course the biggest fans, because we keep up with there productions.
haha, this is great. go trent!
i bet its gotta be tough asking for donations to cover server costs when you know millionaires are using your site
Trent, you’re my hero! :)
I can only wonder if we’ve commented each other at OiNK – who knows what he’s alias was? ;)
Ordering a Nails shirt right now ;).
[quote comment="200388"]Trent Reznor is quite weathy. Isn’t it a slap in the face of economic principles for him to be pirating music, as well? Sharing is one thing; being stingy is another.
I hope he plans to release his next album free of charge.[/quote]
He didn’t do because it was free. He did it because ALL the other places to get mp3’s sucked ass. Hence “DRM, low bit rate, etc.”
[quote comment="200569"]Trent, you’re my hero! :)
I can only wonder if we’ve commented each other at OiNK – who knows what he’s alias was? ;)[/quote]
You’ve got to be kidding me. Save this teenage-crush bullshit for Digg where it belongs
He kicks ass. I always buy cds of bands i liek to support them. file sharing doesnt hurt the fat rich bastards and thats what reznor is saying. so the record company makes 2 billion instead 2.2 billion cause of sharing, whoopie. think of all the little bands who get heard now (example trust company) i bought thier cd ;) but i wouldnt have if i wouldnt have come across it on limewire.
This isn’t the entire interview. In the entire interview (in which Saul Williams was also interviewed) he states that he paid $5,000 for Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”, to “support the arts”.
I’m sure that he purchased anything he actually liked. Many of us download music to explore new artists, tastes, etc. — to see if we’d even like the stuff at all. If I download something and I turn out to hate it, I simply delete it. If I do like it, I generally order the CD.
And to digress a bit.. He’s spot on with iTunes — the crap bitrate and DRM kill it. Until bitrates improve as the standard for music sales downloads, I’ll stick to physical media primarily for purchases.
Damn I love NIN. Of course musicians illegally file share! Because it’s not the musicians that get screwed when we “steal music” it’s the LABELS that get screwed. It’s the LABELS and the RIAA that fight back and sue.
Musicians want people to listen to their music.
Now we just have to get Trent as a member on http://www.musicneutral.com = would be awesome.
How many times does it need to be said: Copyright infringement is NOT the same as stealing!
[quote comment="200389"]This is really cool! Haha, it really makes you think. kk[/quote]
[quote comment="200388"]Trent Reznor is quite weathy. Isn’t it a slap in the face of economic principles for him to be pirating music, as well? Sharing is one thing; being stingy is another.
I hope he plans to release his next album free of charge.[/quote]
UHhhhh…..do you read?….he already is releasing the new record for free
I wonder what his ratio was.
Reznor is right. I download the music, and if I like it, I buy the CD.
There are trillions of artists that never went down the commercial label paths due to there ethics.
Trenty boy here wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t till his name was well well well established in the industry that he wished to entertain in before he decided to fuck the system that he very willingly used to launch a platform.
You want to support real artists, go to your local areas to support the talent that said “FUCK YOU” to these labels before they made there mollah.
OiNK – Because Moo, although seemingly independant is still associated with establishment :)
I know better, I download music, and if I like it, I go buy concert tickets ;)
but now invite needed first..got a spare one for a dedicated sharer?
42noahgmail.com
[quote comment="200388"]Trent Reznor is quite weathy. Isn’t it a slap in the face of economic principles for him to be pirating music, as well? Sharing is one thing; being stingy is another.
I hope he plans to release his next album free of charge.[/quote]
Shut up, faggot
That’s great… and he is absolutely right, oink was “like the world’s greatest record store”.
I tried using itunes for a long time, problem is most of the music I’m into is not in the mainstream and not available… but OiNK had EVERYTHING!
I loved it.
I cried when it went down. I’m really interested in Waffles.fm but I have yet to receive an invite!
joeislike@gmail.com if anyone is really generous.
Aint to proud to beg….but its no fun.
Former oinker with exellent ration now loking for what.cd and waffles. So please, make my day!
johan73@hailmail.net
have STmusic invites btw
cheers
NIN is one of my favorite bands, though, Trent was not the kind of guy I would think would be “stealing” music. At least he’s honest about it as I’m sure there are plenty of musicians who complain about free music while downloading someone else’s album at the same time.
OiNK I’ll admit I was never a member of, though I would have loved it. I’ve had problems with other trackers, but the way everyone spoke of OiNK made it seem so damn good. There’s plenty of music I would have wanted to download that I can’t find anywhere else. Waffles sounds great from what I hear, but I haven’t gotten an invite. :(
BTW, if anyone wants to be EXTRA nice, my email is jimmyupt@gmail.com
This is a shot in the dark, but if you want to invite someone to Waffles.fm or What.cd who has about 30 gigs of music at least 192 kbs, please invite me at urahoe@gmail.com. I would seriosuly appreciate it.
This is a shot in the dark, but if you want to invite someone to Waffles.fm or What.cd who has about 30 gigs of music at least 192 kbs, please invite me at urahoe4@gmail.com. I would seriosuly appreciate it.
(use the second e-mail)
[quote comment="200392"]In other words, I’m sure Trent Reznor only believes in intellectual property rights when it’s convenient to him.[/quote]
You’re an idiot. Trent has consistently promoted the downloading of his album. He himself put the entire album on his website.
Look into things before you speak next time.
Way to go trent.
This may just be paranoia, but wouldn’t posting your e-mail address here help the Mpaa, ect track you down?
by the way im also looking for that invite
Freepirateallaince@gmail.com
lol
There are no what.cd invites at the moment… I have 4 left but it won’t let me send any, saying invites are currently closed.
waffles is supposed to have a lot of people invited by Friday, wait till then and start begging on irc
without filesharing there would be no internet, hundreds of thousands of jobs if not Millions of jobs all around the globe would not exist..
successfull corperations would not even have been formed.
filesharing is the heart of the internet, filesharing is why our time is so great, why hardware has been pushed forward and why we have broadband in so many places. without filesharing ISPs would not exist and home users would not have internet other then through phone lines with K56 modems and expensive fees..
the majority of the world development, technology, jobs, profits, communications, almost everything we know today has filesharing to thank for its existence.
awesome that more and more influencive people supports what has made our world today, and that we need (corperations, artists, producers) to change our ways to adapt to the new world.
“FunkbillJue2lipsMcGeeTooterSlappdaddyBoogieSaladQuote FunkbillJue2lipsMcGeeTooterSlappdaddyBoogieSalad”
Is very right.. stealing is MPAA/RIAA propaganda! its NOT theft breaking copyright..
Official Memorial OiNKs T-Shirt:
http://www.cafepress.com/neverforgetoink
- Becky
I wonder who invited Trent.
Where ?
Trent is an idiot with ego.
He probably doesn’t even know how to use torrents, but enjoys his free publicity all the same.
“I don’t feel cool when I go there…” – but you feel “cool” when you use torrents? What are you – 14 years old? Grow up, bitch…
Entertaining story… I had an account with OiNK, but I never went there after registering…oops. :D You all would be amazed at what you can get for shelling out a buck or two per month for “premium” accounts at some sites… direct downloads from ultrafast html links, no torrents, no uploading (IE, no RIAA…) and so on made from all the latest files on usenet/torrents/irc or whatever. I gave up IRC/torrents/limewire etc. a long time ago, suckers. :P
[quote comment="200663"]There are trillions of artists that never went down the commercial label paths due to there ethics.
Trenty boy here wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t till his name was well well well established in the industry that he wished to entertain in before he decided to fuck the system that he very willingly used to launch a platform.
You want to support real artists, go to your local areas to support the talent that said “FUCK YOU” to these labels before they made there mollah.
OiNK – Because Moo, although seemingly independant is still associated with establishment :)[/quote]
Dude, in order for one to get the power he or she seeks, one must gain power from its source. In this scenario, the power is granted to Trent from the people who had it: corporate America. And I doubt “Closer” was at all marred by his working – yeah, some people do that, working – his way to his current status: making kick-ass industrial rock while owning his own label so he can help get /other/ kick-ass acts out to the masses that would’ve other wise been skewed, jaded and tossed aside by the system. Don’t put the man down because he made something of himself. Not making the system work /for/ you is rather fleeting and a tad childish. Trent made it his bitch. Respect.
The official shirt:
http://www.cafepress.com/oppluvvpigg
i just downloaded niggy tardust. awesome album. i don’t really have an opinion on the stealing or loving the band topic; it’s all an idea really. it doesn’t seem concrete. one can’t tell who exactly one’s stealing from, or who is affected. if i listen to the download and love the music i’ll go out and buy the original. you know?
@ # 56
Pitiful statement and so might your life be.
Trent Reznor; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ5iHaV0dP4 :)
plz invite aabatista@gmail.com
[quote comment="200920"]Where ?[/quote]
hah, that was my first thought after reading this.
reznor critics might be inclined to note that reznor himself leaked the tracks from Year Zero last spring (quite artistically, at that). i’m not even a big fan or anything, but the man certainly earns my respect at every turn.
whoops, meant to quote david about who invited trent.
looking for an invitation. Thanks in advance. preimagina@gmail.com
Makes ya wonder what movies Tom Cruise downloads…
@Grendel
of course he wont release his next album free if charge his profits from selling it himself will be huge. He will however put a copy out so people can download it if they want. He knows people are going to steal it and he knows that if he makes it free there will be no store release. So logically he does both. Like the album? you can go buy it for a friend.
Fuck the music industry and fuck the police that closed OiNK
I was a member … loved the place.. downloaded so much blues I couldn’t find anywhere :( … still missing a few hundred albums I cant find in the retail world and online …
I cant fucking believe OiNK is dead .. FUCK authority now
Bit off topic but i liked what cracky said
Money is trying to rape music.[/quote]
There is a great quote from hilltop hoods, goes something like
“money’s walking my culture through it’s darkest hour……hip hop was then a culture, now hip hops a business”
Money always ruins anything that is good and pure, lucky enough there are some groups in some genres of music who are trying to bring it all back to its roots.
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More musicians are reverting to actually working for a living today following the tradition set by the Grateful Dead in the 60’s. Most newly signed record deals give little to the recording artists but instead it goes into the pockets of the large record companies. Due to this situation several artists make the majority of their income by touring constantly keeping a constant income and making more money than most musicians who think they should make their income off of CD’s which they spent a few days recording. Many of the working bands who constantly tour have never had a single on the pop charts and they still manage to be some of the most successful bands of today. You cant steal addending a concert. let the musicians who are lazy get what they are asking for by trying to hold onto an outdated method of getting extremely rich.
Hehe, that was almost predictable… anyone remembers the “mistery” of the leaking of the 2-disc DVD9 version of “Closure” (only officially available on VHS) on Suprnova or somewhere else, I can’t recall now… I believe Trent is in this world for a long time, you know.
Oh, and about the invites… former Oinker too, though not as famous as Trent :P I can give a STMusic.org invite in exchange for one to waffles or what.cd.
e-mail: constantinehb@yahoo.com
Looking For invites cheers cashbondi@yahoo.com
Well it seems some of you get it and then well theres the others. There were “things” on that site you couldnt get anywhere else such as LIVE performances, Fan based remixes, Rare duets, unreleased stuff you couldn’t buy and bootlegs from other countries that we could only imagine and at a higher quality because the fans wanted to hear their fave artist in the best possible way even if it meant GIVING AWAY what mp3 download sites can’t offer…get it yet? And as for TR I think he is just giving the industry what it deserves….”Nothing” and the Artists Just like they imagined.
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I wonder if I ever warned Trent for anything…
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