Trent Reznor on How How Social Media Creates a ‘Toxic Environment’ for Music

I like angry Trent.

 

I agree with his thoughts on this but I do think there are some Prince's out there.

 

Pretty much this. I mean, i'm sure he has very little time in his day to go out and search for some of the really cool shit that's out there, he's probably just referring to stuff that everyone constantly hears

 

"Here's my opinion about why I don't like some music and why people shouldn't listen to opinions"

It sound like he needs to hang out in different parts of the Internet. If anything, in 2017, it's much easier to get your weird music out to the masses than ever before. The only likelihood of there being more "safe" music out there now is simply because there is more music readily available now than was accessible in earlier decades.

Yeah, the radio still blows and there are still tons of copycat, safe artists and toxic armchair critics. But eccentric, eclectic music is only a click away.

 

I'd love to learn who those bands/artists are he is referring to. We will never know.

 

Can someone inform him that Spotify, pandora, last.fm, bandcamp, SoundCloud and YouTube exists?

 

This is the same guy who advocated for an Oink-like service when it was around, so I'm pretty sure he's fairly informed about the state of digital music, despite his Luddite-like opinion shown here.

 

sounds like someone who hasnt listened to music in 20 years

 

He should check out the chorus.fm forums and see what an actually online music community looks like.

 

Personally, I believe it degrades music. Not some platforms, but youtube comments make me want put knives in my eyes. OMG I LOVE KELLIN Most people on social media don't have a fuck what they're talking about, marginalizing bands, and creating new subgenres every damn day. And don't get me started on EDM fans. 'PLURFuck you that's trance not techno!' "House didn't have origins in the gay community, retard!"
-Basically every EDM fan I know, and I'm an EDM producer.

 

Yawn. a common mindset of people of that generation, I think. I know that's a blanket statement but I've seen it so many times. People who complain about the younger generations and technologies- honestly this is life in the digital age so either get with it and adapt or get left behind.

 

I don't think you need to be left behind. He has merit on his thoughts about social media. It's widely abused and not everyone is of the mindset to ignore the garbage on it. I think it's still totally possible to release music without having a large social media campaign around it.

 

I don't think you need to be left behind- I just think that's the reality of the situation in this day and age. I think that social media is a vital part of releasing music now and to write it off, especially in such an angry/aggressive way, won't win you many fans. Just my opinion though. I'm sure there are plenty of people around his age who agree with him- like I said, it's a mindset I see a lot coming from that generation.

 

Social media creates a toxic environment for everything (except memes of course). No-one is as funny irl as they portray on twitter, no-one looks the way the do irl as they do on their IG, and no-one is living their life they way their snapchat suggests they might be. The latter is the absolute worst of all social media platforms.

Trent is still bitter though. He's somewhat right when he says that certain influencers (or "tastemakers", as he says) can make or break any band or brand these days, but people are making all kinds of music that's reaching all kinds of people. Personally though, I would struggle being a famous band in the social media age because I am far too worried about others' opinions that any negative criticism would spiral me into a deep depression.