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NiN's Trent Reznor Speaks Out on Apple's App Store Rejection Policies

I did tell you guys that they rejected my iFight Pro update because I mentioned the "Cheney Incident" claiming that I was ridiculing a public figure. Yet the movie W is clearly ridiculing a public figure but can be purchased through iTunes.
 
Trent is wrong, Apple is right. Apple is always right. They've never made a bad corporate decision in the history of their existence, not even the Performa 6200.

Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple!
 
jandep said:
Totally OT, but...

Someone needs to come down off the high horse. You talk about educated people being able to communicate effectively while not using expletives, implying that you are one of those so gifted. Also implying that those here who have used expletives (which are starred out, mind you) are not so intelligent or educated as you. Yet you then use one yourself. Hmmm.

You can argue and say that crap is merely a euphemism for excrement that you prefer instead of s**t. But would you be OK with having your hypothetical four-year-old daughter say "I have to take a crap daddy" because that would be effective communication without resorting expletives?
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I think he would prefer his daughter saying:
"Dearest father, if it wouldn't be a bother, may I have your permission to utilize the lavatory, as I would like to defecate?"
 
skeep5 said:
Do you have kids? Used to be back in the day that your neighbors and friends and the public in general would shun this type of content, but now its embraced. Protecting kids from filth is harder these days, and children are exposed to more of it than ever, which makes parenting a lot more difficult than, say, when my folks were kids. Just my opinion.
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To be fair, "The Downward Spiral" is almost 15 years old and never got regular radio airplay.

The sort of filth on Top 40 radio is reprehensible, but it's hardly fair to lump NIN into that group.
 
ZiggyPastorius said:
Of course. The classic superstition of profanity. Tell me, have you ever used the word breast? Because that was a very offencive word in the early 1900s, and if you have, I have a feeling you are VERY arrogant and miserable.
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Breast. Breast. BREAST. BREAST.

...your avatar is awful. :D
 
You guys sure assume a lot from a small quote. The quote I replied to said that his last album was free. I'm just pointing out that all is not charity in Reznor World.

South Park puts their episodes online for free. They also sell merch. They submitted an app that was similar in nature to this NIN app. They got rejected. Unlike Reznor, however, Parker and Stone didn't act like the world was going to come to a halt because their iPhone app wasn't approved. Here's their response:

"We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was 'potentially offensive.' But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans."

A bit more mature, especially from a group of people who create potty mouth cartoons.
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yes, because not doing jack-shit about something is better than calling out a bad and inconsistent policy. because being passive makes the world a better place!
 
aiterum said:
yes, because not doing jack-shit about something is better than calling out a bad and inconsistent policy.
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What about when it has been stated that the bad and inconsistent policy is being improved and evolved? Calling it out reminds me of a child crying about getting a toy until the second it's in their hand, even though they know it's coming.

aiterum said:
because being passive makes the world a better place!
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Well, generally, yeah. This really depends on the context.
 
I'm glad he used profanity so much in his reaction to Apple. It proves why he is a has been.
 
ph0rk said:
Granted parental controls are a nice feature, but the responsibility rests ultimately with the parents - not Apple, not wal-mart, and not Google.

The default position should never be to censor.
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Did I say that? No...I said there needs to be a way to give parents OPTIONS while allowing adults to access the content they wish. Yes - parents are the final stopping point - but unless you have children you just do not understand as that is never ALWAYS an option. You cannot ALWAYS keep an eye on your kids, you cannot ALWAYS be there with them - you need to teach them right and wrong and good decision making skills and hope for the best. That does not mean you allow them cart blanch to ALL content as that would be silly.

D
 
ph0rk said:
His last record was free.
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Giving something away for free is a tried and tested marketing strategy... I'd be more impressed by his philanthropic credentials if he gave his entire back catalog away for free..
 
Bevz said:
Giving something away for free is a tried and tested marketing strategy... I'd be more impressed by his philanthropic credentials if he gave his entire back catalog away for free..
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If he could, I suspect that he would. Interscope owns most of that stuff.

Since fulfilling his contract with them (with Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, both NIN albums (Ghosts I-IV and The Slip) have been released under a creative commons license. Additionally, he released roughly 400 GB of raw HD video and he's given away a huge number of multitrack project files for fans to edit and remix.

Hell, even most of Year Zero was given away as part of the ARG that accompanied it.
 
ddTaylor said:
You cannot ALWAYS keep an eye on your kids, you cannot ALWAYS be there with them - you need to teach them right and wrong and good decision making skills and hope for the best. That does not mean you allow them cart blanch to ALL content as that would be silly.
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If you think that erecting arbitrary walls is the way to go about it, more power to you. I know that I would've found ways around them and that the uncensored internet of the late-90's, to which I had unmitigated access, didn't destroy me or my brain.

Talk to your kids, teach them right from wrong, and trust them until they give you a reason not to.

Parents were able to do their job, and do it well, long before Apple built Parental Controls into OS X or iPhone OS, long before internet filters existed, and long before the god-damned V-chip. Don't use those tools as a crutch.
 
Bevz said:
Giving something away for free is a tried and tested marketing strategy... I'd be more impressed by his philanthropic credentials if he gave his entire back catalog away for free..
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Even if he wanted to give the rest of the albums away for free, the license for the songs is still owned by Interscope. They wouldn't even allow him to make a DVD of some live shows. Instead, his crew filmed it, and he put the video (about 400 gigs worth) up on the internet for free download.
 
Bevz said:
Giving something away for free is a tried and tested marketing strategy... I'd be more impressed by his philanthropic credentials if he gave his entire back catalog away for free..
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That would be difficult given that he doesn't have the rights for it (he isn't unique in that respect).


The music he does have the rights for, he puts up as a torrent himself.
 
Bevz said:
Giving something away for free is a tried and tested marketing strategy... I'd be more impressed by his philanthropic credentials if he gave his entire back catalog away for free..
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Yer forgetting the rest of the strategy which is having the 'free' thing tied to a purchase.


Lethal
 
zombitronic said:
You guys sure assume a lot from a small quote. The quote I replied to said that his last album was free. I'm just pointing out that all is not charity in Reznor World.

South Park puts their episodes online for free. They also sell merch. They submitted an app that was similar in nature to this NIN app. They got rejected. Unlike Reznor, however, Parker and Stone didn't act like the world was going to come to a halt because their iPhone app wasn't approved. Here's their response:

"We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was 'potentially offensive.' But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans."

A bit more mature, especially from a group of people who create potty mouth cartoons.
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Except it is a completely different context. Sure, South Park's app likely was full of potentially offensive language/visuals from day 1 - and never approved.

The NIN app was APPROVED many times previous, then a small bug update had the application rejected for a completely unassociated reason.

Reznor was somewhat apathetic on Digg as to whether this was a worthwhile application to produce. He makes his money now by selling deluxe CD sets, shirts, and concert tickets. Obviously the app was meant to be a cool way to connect fans at concerts, in some way promoting his music.

Get annoyed with the language in his frustration. Fine. For some, use of swears shows a greater range of emotion and motivation.


Apple is in the wrong here.
 
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