Trent Reznor is Super Pissed at YouTube

Even though Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor is now Apple Music’s Chief Creative Officer and blasting a competitor like YouTube is smart business for him, it’s hard to argue that his complaints about the video sharing service don’t hold any water and are simply being uttered for stock point improvement.

In a new interview with Billboard at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Reznor contended that YouTube has become a hugely successful entity because of its willingness to steal from his creative counterparts.

“It is built on the backs of free, stolen content and that’s how they got that big,” said Reznor of YouTube. “I think any free-tiered service is not fair. It’s making their numbers and getting them a big IPO and it is built on the back of my work and that of my peers. That’s how I feel about it. Strongly. We’re trying to build a platform that provides an alternative – where you can get paid and an artist can control where their [content] goes.”

He continued: “I went through a period of pointing fingers and being the grumpy, old, get-off-my-lawn guy. But then you realize, let’s adapt and figure out how to make this better instead of just complain about it.”

Reznor went on to explain that he is truly now more interested in being part of the solution when it comes to how music is being presented and shared with the world.

“The last 10 years or so have felt depressing because avenues are shutting down. Little shrines to music lovers – record shops – are disappearing,” offered Mr. Nine Inch Nails. “And every time there’s a new innovation, the musician is the one that didn’t have a voice at the table about how it’s presented. I thought, if I could make a place where there could be more opportunities, and it comes with more fertile ground, and music is treated with a bit more with respect, that interests me. It’s not, “Oh, I hope I get on that taco commercial.”