Trent Reznor - he of Nine Inch Nails, issit - has spoken out about the overpricing of his last album, the DiS-recommended Year Zero.
Reznor has criticised the UMG label, stating that their motives were purely to "screw the consumer". He posted the comments on the NIN website.
Comments like these:
"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."
Nine Inch Nails' next release will be a remix collection, release date TBC.