I’m sick of Trent Reznor being hailed as some lionhearted trailblazer due to his recent announcement that NIN is no longer signed to a record label and will be dealing directly with fans.

Mr. Reznor is in this position, for better or worse, because of the business model he participated in – willingly – for the past two decades.

There’s downsides to playing the game by the rules, of course.

But there’s positives, too.

It’s Burst’s opinion that artist-direct distribution is NOT some cure-all for every aspiring artist looking to succeed in the music business. In a way, such technology already exists – every band on Myspace can sell their tunes directly to their fans through Snocap/Amie Street/Whatever-Next-Web2.0-Hyped-Music-Store.

It’s also easy to say you’ll never sell out when no one’s making any offers.

Or, to rephrase for the current climate, it’s easier to say “no” to licensing deals, movies and commercials after you’ve already made enough money to pay the bills (and then some).

Imagine the WILLPOWER and GUTS these decisions would take in 2007 :

Thom Yorke & Co. Announce : Radiohead say NO to Radio Shack advert!!

Reznor Proudly Proclaims : Nine Inch Nails will NEVER shill for Home Depot!!

C’mon.

[sarcasm_OFF]

I’m all for artistic integrity, but there’s some of the ol’ Biting The Hand That Feeds at work here, too.