Trent Reznor claims “the music world sucks”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross first pivoted into composing film scores in 2010, starting with the exceptional music for David Fincher’s The Social Network. Since then, they’ve used their sonic capabilities to score a host of celebrated flicks, including Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, which arrived to acclaim earlier this year.
Reznor has operated as an independent artist since Nine Inch Nails split from Interscope Records following the release of 2007’s Year Zero, releasing all subsequent albums under his Null Corporation banner since then – only 2017’s Add Violence EP and 2018’s Bad Witch were done alongside Capitol.
Speaking to IndieWire in a new interview, Reznor said that he and Ross’ move into film scores was partially because “the culture of the music world sucks.”
The pair then outlined the difference between working on Nine Inch Nails music—which comes with industry demands whether they’re independent or not—and working on film scores. They say the latter is a much more “collaborative experience.”
“What we’re looking for (from film) is the collaborative experience with interesting people,” Reznor said. “We haven’t gotten that from the music world necessarily, for our own choice.”
Reznor continued by saying that he and Ross enjoy “working in service to something, where we’re not in control of the whole thing, and we’re working intimately with a director or small team to try and help realise a collective vision, solving that riddle without the burden of ‘how’s it going to be marketed?’ and all the things.”
“You mentioned disillusionment with the music world?” Reznor said before landing his hammer blow on the music world. “Yes. The culture of the music world sucks. That’s another conversation, but what technology has done to disrupt the music business in terms of not only how people listen to music but the value they place on it is defeating,” he added.
Reznor then clarified that his position does not come from him being an “old man” but rather a lifelong music lover. He added: “Music [now] feels largely relegated to something that happens in the background or while you’re doing something else. That’s a long, bitter story.”
Reznor and Ross have enjoyed a great year for their compositions. Not only did they bring the Challengers score to life, but just last week, they revealed their score for another Guadagnino film, A24’s Queer.
Are Nine Inch Nails still active?
While it has been over four years since the band released Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts on March 26th, 2020, earlier this year, Reznor said that he and Ross plan to step away from soundtracks for a while to craft another Nine Inch Nails album.
In an April interview, Reznor said of his future plans: “I think coming out of a stretch of a number of films in a row, I want some time of seeing where the wind blows versus: there’s a looming date on a calendar coming up and we’d better get our shit together.”
He continued: “And certainly, in the last few weeks, I’ve been itching to do what we often do, which is just come in and let’s start something that we’re not even sure what it’s for.”
The vocalist also claimed the quantity of soundtrack work has “managed to make Nine Inch Nails feel way more exciting than it had been in the past few years. I’d kind of let it atrophy a bit in my mind for a variety of reasons.”
However, when appearing on Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast the year before, he maintained he had no desire to hit the road again. “I don’t want to be away from my kids,” he revealed.
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