10 Musicians Who Encouraged You To Steal Music

Trent Reznor - of Nine Inch Nails fame - has never been shy about letting his contempt for record labels be known. In the past he has blasted them for artificially inflating the price of his music in regions where he has a larger fanbase, claiming that it means true fans of his music end up getting "ripped off." In fact, it was a move that led Reznor to move towards digital distribution platforms for his music.

Other stunts he has pulled in the past include leaving USB drives containing new songs hidden away in venues as part of a game to see if fans would pick up on what the device contained and leak the songs onto the net. Hilariously, those who leaked the files were hit with cease and desist letters from the RIAA, demonstrating once again the disconnect between label and artist. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he went entirely independent following the release of Year Zero.

One qualifier to these antics comes from the man himself, as he claims that it is his choice to do what he wants with his music and he can make his choice because he is rich. Despite being a supporter of torrenting sites, he has also called for fans and record labels to respect the wishes of the individual artist in relation to the music they create.