Once upon a time, Trent Reznor vowed to keep his children from listening mainstream pop music, explaining his reasoning saying “because I think it sucks, generally.” But having subsequently softened on this somewhat draconian approach to parenting, Nine Inch Nails' mainman has had his mind, and ears, opened to music that he might formerly have dismissed, and learned to appreciate some of the genre's biggest artists and songs.
Back in 2023, during a two hour interview on Rick Rubin’s Tetragrammaton podcast, Reznor admitted that he had "teared up" while listening to a Dua Lipa song (Levitating) that his then six-year-old daughter was singing along too, admitting, "it was just a really well-done piece of music. It was clever. It felt good. It’s difficult!"
Last week Reznor and his NIN partner Atticus Ross took home a Golden Globe award, for their soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino's Challengers. On the red carpet t the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on January 5, Reznor was asked by an interviewer from LA's 'new alternative' radio station 98.7 to name his favourite song of 2024. He surprised his interviewer by nominating Sabrina Carpenter's Expresso, which topped the pop charts in 20 different countries last year, and has been certified five times platinum in the US, for five million 'sales'.
Sadly Reznor didn't get into the reasons behind his choice, which drew a "Wow, unexpected!" response from his interviewer.
In a 2024 interview with IndieWire, Reznor admitted to feeling “disillusionment” with the current state of music.
Speaking to writer Ryan Lattanzio, he stated: “The culture of the music world sucks. That’s another conversation, but what technology has done to disrupt the music business in terms of not only how people listen to music but the value they place on it is defeating.
“I’m not saying that as an old man yelling at clouds, but as a music lover who grew up where music was the main thing. Music [now] feels largely relegated to something that happens in the background or while you’re doing something else. That’s a long, bitter story.”
