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

[JonHimself]

I think this has less to do with censorship and more to do with potential loss of revenue from iTunes.

See I took that it's all about consistency, not censorship. I get the impression he's opposed to censoring anything but if you're going to censor one thing, censor it all... that's what he was getting about by saying that you can purchase explicit NIN content from the iTunes Store but the App wasn't allowed because of explicit content.

 

[abprime]

he doesn't seem like a guy that's out to get Apple and is jealous of their success (like say another company might be).

Exactly. Trent is all about trying to make his music accessible and sharing with his fans. If anyone needs evidence of this, you can look at the album "The Slip" which the band recorded and made available for free download on their website. He's clearly approaching this from a standpoint of genuine frustration with apple... not whining because he's missing out on money. He's already a millionaire and hugely successful as an artist. He may say naughty words, but I think that his position as a "celebrity" will help in this issue that clearly needs addressing on Apple's part.

 

[blur35mm]

Bestiality?

Huge fan of NIN (my favorite in fact) and huge fan of Apple.

I think without knowing the real reason is that Apple may have rejected this app either due to the images in the app or the content of the song, which at the end of the day constitutes bestiality. Most of the time bestiality and child pornography (not in downward spiral mind you) are not tolerable for free based web content.

Especially content that is easily accessible by children.

The solution here is to approve ALL apps and put proper ratings system in place to keep adult content adult and kids content kids. Sure the nay sayers will say that doesn't work...sure it doesn't work. But it at least removes liability from Apple in that they can claim the children (or parents) were breaking the rules that they have defined.

Kids will still go sneak into R rated movies even though they are not supposed to. But if they sneak in and do not go through the front door screening process, they are breaking the rules and the theater is not liable. Same thing with Apple. Give them time to institute a ratings system.

 

[Diaresi]

Sometimes Apple really come across as the type of company that, if as big as Microsoft, would be a lot, lot, worse!

I'm just waiting for them to introduce the App Store for Snow Leopard. All applications have to go through Apple & iTunes to be installed!

 

[Blackforge]

I don't see the problem, if I had kids I wouldn't want them downloading apps with bad language in them. I can block explicit songs.

It is not the actual program that contains the explicit content, it happens to sometimes link to link to content that could contain explicit content. They give an example of a twitter client that was deemed as having explicit content, but all it does is connect to twitter. Which do you blame? Twitter, the client that connects to it or the people who post the content onto twitter? Ultimately, both are just clients that connect to a web backend of user generated content (in most cases). A child can connect using Safari or any other program to get explicit content if they want or by accident. The question remains of what do you blame?

 

[JonHimself]

...I'm just waiting for them to introduce the App Store for Snow Leopard. All applications have to go through Apple & iTunes to be installed!

Well how else can they ensure a stable, safe environtment?

 

[zombitronic]

Fantastic logic. Please, don't bother explaining yourself. Your claim makes perfect sense.

I get what he's saying. If you can't sell your app, you can't make money. And in this case, maybe it isn't about money but more about selling ego. Trent has a huge ego. He likes putting fishsticks in his mouth.

 

[stagi]

I think he is a chump, anyone who needs to go off on a company using fowl language is a punk and I won't even take him serious. There are much more intelligent ways to try and get your point across.

 

[zhell]

The solution here is to approve ALL apps and put proper ratings system in place to keep adult content adult and kids content kids. Sure the nay sayers will say that doesn't work...sure it doesn't work. But it at least removes liability from Apple in that they can claim the children (or parents) were breaking the rules that they have defined.

Kids will still go sneak into R rated movies even though they are not supposed to. But if they sneak in and do not go through the front door screening process, they are breaking the rules and the theater is not liable. Same thing with Apple. Give them time to institute a ratings system.

I agree that for the U.S., a rating system is probably the only solution. Apple should have found this out before opening the AppStore.

Why not just use the same rules as are in place in the iTunes Music Store?

This does not mean they should approve EVERY app. But it would allow them to handle cases like this in a more logical manner.

 

[eastcoastsurfer]

If anyone needs evidence of this, you can look at the album "The Slip" which the band recorded and made available for free download on their website.

To expand on this you can download the entire album in studio quality (think mulit-gigs way beyond CD quality) and then he encourages you to experiment and remix it. This is how bands should release their music. Not necessarily for free, but give me the highest quality digital downloads that can be offered.

Trent Reznor is currently one of the biggest visionaries on the future of music distribution. Apple should be embracing and working closely with him instead of making these boneheaded moves.

By the way, my opinion of Apple has been changing for the worse way before Reznor said anything about it.

 

[zim]

Easy fix, add parental controls to the iTunes Store... oh wait! we already have them so why not extend them to the app store???

 

[alfmil]

I think he is a chump, anyone who needs to go off on a company using fowl language is a punk and I won't even take him serious. There are much more intelligent ways to try and get your point across.

 

[zombitronic]

Kids will still go sneak into R rated movies even though they are not supposed to. But if they sneak in and do not go through the front door screening process, they are breaking the rules and the theater is not liable. Same thing with Apple. Give them time to institute a ratings system.

This isn't true. In this case, the theater is definitely liable. They would be blamed for not securing the back door. Liability isn't that easy to brush off.

 

[billystlyes]

Apple is too controlling for my taste these days. Remember the 84 commercial? I think someone needs to throw the hammer at Apple. They are the ones turning out to be big brother.

 

[JonHimself]

To expand on this you can download the entire album in studio quality (think mulit-gigs way beyond CD quality) and then he encourages you to experiment and remix it. This is how bands should release their music.

I forgot about that... I did this for fun, but you can download garageband/logic compatible files of a bunch of NIN song's that are split up by tracks (to the tune of 15-25 different tracks in each song) that let you isolate the sounds, change them, manipulate them and remix them. For anyone who tools around in those programs I recommend checking it out - if only for the 'wow that neat' factor.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

But as a parent, if you don't want your kids listening to explicit material, it's up to you as a parent to make sure they don't have access to it.

Correction: It's up to you, as a parent, to make sure that you sit down with your kids and talk to them about this sort of stuff. Putting a wall around "the bad stuff" doesn't do anything.

 

[twoodcc]

i don't blame him for being upset. i don't see the big deal here.

 

[GQB]

Trent is absolutely right: there's much more "objectionable content" available all over the internet...

Wow... what a high standard to strive for.

 

[Eriden]

Maybe as a parent you should do some parenting. Why would you allow your kids who are too young to hear curse words download any and all apps from the app store? Do you give them free reign on the internet too?

I hope this was meant as a generalized statement. If you take a closer look at the post you were quoting, you might notice that the poster said "If I had kids."

Yes, the ultimate responsibility of filtration belongs to parents. But until Apple implements Parental Controls for the App Store, they are probably going to be more heavy-handed in their approval process. Bad press over approval of objectionable content travels fast over the Internet, and bad press = potential lost sales for Apple.

 

[MrSmith]

Anyone who gets upset about 'foul' language (read Americans) needs to get out more. Or at least broaden your mind and learn a bit. Ever read Chaucer?

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

I think without knowing the real reason is that Apple may have rejected this app either due to the images in the app or the content of the song, which at the end of the day constitutes bestiality. Most of the time bestiality and child pornography (not in downward spiral mind you) are not tolerable for free based web content.

You've obviously never actually listened to that album, the specific song mentioned, or much other NIN material in general.

I've been listening to The Downward Spiral for more than ten years and can tell you, pretty emphatically, that there is no "beastiality" in it.

 

[G4R2]

While I don't agree with the way he expressed it I do think he has a point Apple might like to consider. And that is, as others have observed, that the App store might benefit from having a section in its store where mature subject matter might appear and restricted via parental controls.

On the other hand, Apple really doesn't need to do this to continue with its success and the App store is less than a year old. I would prefer that Apple continue to be thoughtful instead of caving in to popular outcry and deploying a poor solution with problems of its own, as other companies have been known to do.

 

[ph0rk]

I don't see the problem, if I had kids I wouldn't want them downloading apps with bad language in them. I can block explicit songs.

Can't you lock down the entire itunes store?

It isn't as if your kids can't find naughty words elsewhere on the internet.

I think without knowing the real reason is that Apple may have rejected this app either due to the images in the app or the content of the song, which at the end of the day constitutes bestiality. Most of the time bestiality and child pornography (not in downward spiral mind you) are not tolerable for free based web content.

The song you are thinking of uses simile and metaphor - there is no actual reference to bestiality.

 

[skellener]

Give it to 'em Trent!

 

[Lepton]

I agree that for the U.S., a rating system is probably the only solution. Apple should have found this out before opening the AppStore.

Apple does have a rating system for apps, and in OS 3 you can restrict apps with a particular rating from being used without a passcode.

But the problem is, how do you rate an app like NIN or as a better example, a Twitter or browser app like Safari? The app has no adult content within, yet the things on the Internet it connects to may have adult content. So how do you rate such an app? On Twitter, or Safari, you can potentially get some talk of child porn. So do you give every Twitter or browser app the most adult rating?

Perhaps one could add an "Internet Chat" rating category and allow restricting that.