Trent Reznor is a hugely successful rock star who also now happens to work for Apple. The Nine Inch Nails frontman recently sat down with Billlboard to discuss his relationship with Beats’ new parent company. Reznor didn’t offer up many details on what’s in the works between Apple and Beats, only confirming that his new duties are “related” to the chief creative officer position he held at Beats Music before Apple bought both the streaming service and Beats hardware line for $3 billion. Reznor said he remains focused on the music streaming / delivery side of things. In other words, he’s got major influence over Apple’s next steps in the space.
Next May, Trent Reznor turns 50. “It’s with some sense of dread,” he says dryly. “I saw something on TV, ‘If you’re age 50 to 74, apply now…’ — I’m like, ‘F—, I’m in that?’ ” As he hits the half-century mark, Reznor may have more than his birthday to celebrate: There’s a good chance Nine Inch Nails will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, and also the possibility of another Academy Award nomination for the score that he and collaborator Atticus Ross have done for David Fincher’s Gone Girl. Their first, for The Social Network, won the best original score Oscar in 2011. As for returning to the road with Nine Inch Nails as a 50-year-old, Reznor wonders if he has another tour in him like the 11-month global trek of festivals, arenas and amphitheaters the band finished this past September. “I don’t see any full-fledged rock extravaganza happening maybe ever, certainly not for the next several years,” he says. “But the idea of putting myself in something that doesn’t feel as comfortable to me — I feel confident I can do that, or until my body falls apart on me. Being onstage alone or with a string quartet, in a theater, it’s not right around the corner, but…”
