I Eat Music

Nick Cave’s second novel, ‘The Death Of Bunny Munro’, will be made available as an iPhone app, it has been revealed.

The iPhone edition, which will apparently be released before the print version, will allow readers to change fonts and colour and add virtual bookmarks when you decide to stop reading (you know, like a book). The text will automatically scroll up the screen (the speed of which you can adjust depending on your reading speed) and the audiobook version will be bundled with it. But the most interesting part is a feature that allows you to switch between the audio and text versions. If your eyes get tired, just pop in your headphones and Nick Cave will arrive (ie in recorded form, he will not actually ‘arrive’) to read the rest to you.

Nick Cave and Bad Seeds collaborator Warren Ellis have also composed a soundtrack to the book, although I’m not entirely sure if this is included in the iPhone app or not.

The hardback edition of the book will be published by Faber & Faber on 8 Sep. Cave’s first novel, 1989’s ‘And The Ass Saw The Angel’, will be re-issued to coincide with the new release.

O2 will lose their exclusive deal to sell Apple’s iPhone in the UK on 9 Oct, with T-Mobile and Orange rumoured to be planning to begin selling the handset, according to reports.

The original deal to sell the iPhone in the UK was signed in 2007 and gave O2 the rights to sell the handset until 2012, although it is believed that these rights were only exclusive for two years. Now Mobile Entertainment claims to have seen documentation confirming this, and also stating that other operators will be given the opportunity to sell the iPhone after 9 Oct.

Some sources are saying that O2 may retain the exclusive rights to the latest version of the phone, the iPhone 3GS, with competitors now only allowed to sell the slightly less exciting iPhone 3G, which came out last year.

Orange and T-Mobile are being touted as new iPhone retailers in the UK as they already sell the device in other countries. T-Mobile have an exclusive deal to sell them in Germany, while Orange was the first network to offer them in Europe.

Apple have rejected Nine Inch Nails’ previously reported ‘nin:access’ iPhone app from the iTunes Store on the grounds that it contains “objectionable content”. The news comes despite Apple accepting the same app just last month.

‘nin:access’ is basically a condensed version of the comprehensive Nine Inch Nails website with added Twitter-like functions which allow users to connect and share content with each other. The reason for the rejection seems to be the inclusion of the song ‘The Downward Spiral’ in a podcast which can be accessed via the app. The specific reason as to why this song would cause such offence is unclear, particularly as it is available to buy as a standalone track from the iTunes download store.

In a lengthy rant on his official forum, NIN man Trent Reznor said: “Now, ‘The Downward Spiral’ the album is not available anywhere in the iPhone app. The song ‘The Downward Spiral’ I believe is in a podcast that can be streamed to the app. Thanks Apple for the clear description of the problem – as in, what do you want us to change to get past your stupid fucking standards? You can buy ‘The Downward Fucking Spiral’ on iTunes, but you can’t allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Come on Apple, think your policies through and for fuck’s sake get your app approval scenario together”.

Reznor has a history of being stubborn in situations like this, and made reference in his post to WalMart’s demands for bands and labels to provide edited “clean” versions of albums for them to stock in their stores. Reznor refused to allows cut versions of his music to be produced, meaning that the band’s music is still unavailable in WalMart stores to this day. Reznor said: “My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any ‘indecent’ material for sale – but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film ‘Scarface’ completely uncensored, or buy a copy of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense?”

In WalMart’s case, it’s unlikely that they’re particularly bothered by the fact that they can’t stock Nine Inch Nails albums. Nor are they worried that Trent Reznor will start sneaking CDs into their stores. However, that may (sort of) be an issue for Apple. Although ‘nin:access’ will not be available to the majority of iPhone users, Reznor says that he will make it available to those users who have chosen to modify (or jailbreak) their phones so that they are not tied to Apple’s iTunes software. Reznor said: “If Apple doesn’t get it together, we will most certainly make it available to the jailbreak community. I didn’t invest in this app to see it languish on the sidelines from an idiotic policy while this tour is in full swing”.

In happier, and less sweary news, Trent Reznor has reportedly got engaged to his girlfriend, West Indian Girl vocalist Mariqueen Maandig. In an announcement on their website, the band said: “In case [you] haven’t heard the news, Mariqueen got engaged. Everyone in the West Indian Girl camp is super excited and happy for her. Q’s an awesome person, friend and bandmate, and she couldn’t be marrying a cooler guy”.

The music business needs to better connect with fans if it’s going to survive. I think we all know that, but Trent Reznor, who’s been doing quite a bit of successful fan connecting since parting company with the major label machine, has been talking around the subject, and makes some interesting points, as usual.

Speaking to Wired ahead of the release of a new Nine Inch Nails iPhone app, Reznor said: “Anyone who’s an executive at a record label does not understand what the internet is, how it works, how people use it, how fans and consumers interact – no idea. I’m surprised they know how to use email. They have built a business around selling plastic discs, and nobody wants plastic discs any more. They’re in such a state of denial it’s impossible for them to understand what’s happening. As an artist, you are now the marketer”.

Recalling his two decades within the major label system, and how he felt when he was freed from his record contract, he continues: “One of the biggest wake-up calls of my career was when I saw a record contract. I said, ‘Wait – you sell it for $18.98 and I make 80 cents? And I have to pay you back the money you lent me to make it and then you own it? Who the fuck made that rule? Oh! The record labels made it because artists are dumb and they’ll sign anything’ – like I did. When we found out we’d been released it was like, ‘Thank God!’. But 20 minutes later it was, ‘Uh-oh, now what are we going to do?’ It was incredibly liberating, and it was terrifying”.

Recalling how he’s dealt with that liberating yet terrifying experience – mainly by centring his activity on a prolific website, and offering a mixture of free and paid-for content offers – Reznor says that artists, or labels, wanting to succeed in this internet age need to think like fans. He continues: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t think music should be free. But the climate is such that it’s impossible for me to change that, because the record labels have established a sense of mistrust. So everything we’ve tried to do has been from the point of view of, ‘What would I want if I were a fan? How would I want to be treated?’ Now let’s work back from that. Let’s find a way for that to make sense and monetise it”.

And by engaging fans through the technology they are already using – BitTorrent file sharing for example – he has done just that. “[BitTorrent is] the domain of pirates”, he says. “But it’s also a great technology that is free. [And] our [biggest] battle is against download costs”.

The next step for Reznor is the aforementioned iPhone app, which will condense down as much of the Nine Inch Nails website as possible, and add new features, allowing fans to interact with each other and share photos, using location functions to find each other on Google Earth, add pictures of gigs to specific locations, and post messages to each other.

The idea is seemingly grander version of an idea that started when Reznor was passing the time waiting for a gig by checking Twitter. He found that fans in the queue outside were doing the same, and sharing photos. Then, on the band’s European tour, Reznor’s long time collaborator Rob Sheridan began taking pictures on stage and posting them online. “People felt included”, says Reznor. “People kind of felt like they were getting postcards from us”.

The app is currently awaiting final approval from Apple before being made available via iTunes.
Meanwhile, to read the interview in full, go to blog.wired.com/underwire/2009/04/trent-reznor-wa.html.

This article orginally appeared in CMU Daily on 7 Apr 2009

Now, you know me, I’m not one for being cynical, but Lady GaGa was in the press a lot last week, talking about how she used to be a drug addict, how she loves being naked, how she used to be a stripper, and so on. And now her single, ‘Poker Face’, is at number one, despite it being awful. But I’m not saying those things are connected, after all, that single has been rising up the charts for weeks. It’s like the charts were in the olden days, when you could get to number one just with sheer persistence. And I guess Christina Aguilera not being around much at the moment helps, too.

Anyway, GaGa’s at number one, then Flo Rida holds fast at number two (don’t worry, I’m not about to suggest that Pete Burns suffering kidney failure has helped him, it’s just a very catchy tune), and the two Comic Relief singles, the Bryden/Jones’ cover of ‘Islands In The Stream’ and The Saturdays’ cover of ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’, drop to three and four respectively. Beyonce, meanwhile, breaks into the top ten, stopping at number nine with her new single ‘Halo’, despite it not being officially released as a single yet.

Outside the top 10, La Roux just misses out, hitting 11 with ‘In For The Kill’, as do the Pet Shop Boys, who make it to 14 with ‘Love Etc’. Another single not officially released for a few weeks yet, AR Rahman and The Pussycat Dolls’ collaboration for the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ soundtrack, ‘Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)’, is at 20. Franz Ferdinand’s new single, ‘No You Girls’, rises from 52 to 27, though with it being featured on the new iPhone ad, I’d expect to see it go higher this Sunday (it’s certainly got itself stuck in my head). And rounding off this week’s new entries, Enrique Iglesias and Ciara stop at 30 with ‘Takin’ Back My Love’.

Over to the album chart now, and U2 have quite embarrassingly been knocked off the number one spot (and right down to number six) by Ronan Keating’s tribute album to his mother. An album coincidentally released the same week as Mothering Sunday. Mums don’t like U2, they like ballads. Everyone knows that. Which will be why Bette Midler has risen from number 21 to number nine this week, and Lionel Richie is another new entry at 10. CMU Weekly’s recent competition prize for the mums of readers, Barry Manilow’s ‘Greatest Songs Of The 80s’ faired less well, only making it to number 22 – though possibly because people were waiting to see if they’d won it before buying it, rather than the fact that Manilow’s 80s covers only serve to remind you that the originals were much better.

Probably not a new entry powered by mums is Pete(r) Doherty’s new solo album, ‘Grace/Wastelands’, which goes it at 17. You have to travel right down at the bottom of the chart for this week’s final new entry, ‘My One And Only Thrill’ by Melody Gardot at number 40, but before that there are some re-entries worth noting. Following an actually quite good edition of ‘The South Bank Show’ on Will Young, the singer’s latest album, ‘Let It Go’, is back in the chart at 30, Enrique Iglesias’ ‘Greatest Hits’ is boosted by his new single, making it to 36, and another possibly mum-fuelled purchase, Luther Vandross’ ‘Lovesongs’ compilation (originally released for Valentine’s Day) is back in at 38. In between the last two is Michael Jackson’s ‘King Of Pop’ compilation, proving that he might be able to sell out the O2 Dome 50 times over, but people are more interested in seeing a freakshow than listening to his music. Possibly.

The chart is written on Post-It Notes and stuck on the wall by The Official Charts Company

This article originally appeared in CMU Daily on 23 Mar 2009