Trent Reznor is talking YouTube and stolen content in a new interview, and the legend certainly isn’t a fan of the streaming service. His comments on “stolen content” were made during an interview that revolved around the one-year anniversary of the launch of Apple Music. Reznor has been heavily involved since Beats was brought on and was formerly the Chief Creative Officer of the service.
“Personally, I find YouTube’s business to be very disingenuous,” Reznor said to Billboard. “It is built on the backs of free, stolen content and that’s how they got that big. I think any free-tiered service is not fair.”
Reznor further said, “It’s making their numbers and giving 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 further went on to describe how he and Apple Music executive Jimmy Lovine sat down and came to the conclusion that the future of music is streaming. Reznor expressed that the streaming services bring a sense of opportunity to musicians worldwide, especially with the decline of traditional outlets, such as record shops.
He described wanting to be a part of the opportunities that are brought forth, saying, “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 respect, that interests me.”
NME reported that Apple Music announced this past Tuesday (June 15) that the streaming service now holds 15 million paid subscribers, as well as confirming its redesign details.
