Trent Reznor Offers Career Advice To Burgeoning Bands

Trent Reznor knows a thing or two about getting noticed. As Nine Inch Nails’ mastermind and industrial pioneer, he’s been steadily climbing the notoriety ladder for two decades. Nine Inch Nails were ranked #94 on Rolling Stone’s “The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time” and just this year, the magazine named Reznor #46 on their list of 100 people who are “Reinventing America.” He digitally released his last two albums for free (Ghosts partially, but still) and he stays on top of new media like it’s his job (we can’t go a week without a Tweet from Trent). So yes, it’s safe to say Reznor knows what he is doing as far as the music industry is concerned, even as it slowly dwindles and self-cannibalizes.

But, it’s going to be ok. Uncle Trent is here to help. This morning at 5 AM, via the NIN forum—one of the utilities Trent urges new artists to look into—Reznor provided his own detailed thoughts on how to get noticed as an emerging artist. The whole thing is available to read and comment on here, and it raises some good points. Reznor’s advice in a nutshell: Set your goals, accept that people don’t want to pay for your music, be accommodating, get personal with fans, and don’t expect money from record sales. Do these quick things and you can have David Bowie write your bio when you make RS’s top 200 artists list!

All jokes aside, it’s a good read from a guy who has been tailoring his own distribution methods to the crumbling industry’s wicked ways for quite a while.