By Johnny Firecloud

Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor is working on a cable TV series based on his 2007 dystopian concept album Year Zero, according to a lengthy profile of Reznor in the Sunday edition of the New York Times.

Reznor has recruited producer Lawrence Bender, partner to Quentin Tarantino and producer of the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

In recent months, Reznor has made tsunami-sized waves in the music world with his outspoken, well-publicized abandonment of the major label system. He has been subsequently beating labels at their own game by exploring various alternatives to the antiquated business model most major labels still cling to. Last month, he posted the latest Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip, online for fans to download for free. In March, Nails' instrumental album Ghosts I-IV was offered in a variety of physical and digital formats. He remains one of the industry's most outspoken critics and formidable threats, as many established artists have begun down the same path to label freedom.

The concept of Year Zero centers on a bleak, Orwellian future approximately 15 years away, with the U.S. a religious dictatorship and the world on the brink of environmental and social collapse. Reznor has indicated in the past that he'd be interested in making a film version of the story, and has also hinted at a n upcoming sequel to the album. It should make for an interesting viewing experience, although it's not likely that we'll be catching the show on any major networks, however, as Reznor is notorious for his unwillingness to compromise on his creative vision. Showtime or HBO would likely be a better fit.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Reznor explained his sink-or-swim approach to emerging technologies within the industry. "I don't agree that (music) should be free, but it is free, and you can either accept it or you can put your head in the sand," he said. Marketing tactics have become increasingly removed from focusing on the actual music, something Trent has no interest in taking part in. "I don't really want to be on the side of a bus or in a BlackBerry ad hawking some product that sucks just so I can get my record out," he said.

Reznor hinted in the Times interview that more free music, as well as possible new software applications, will be coming soon.

A reworked, revitalized Nine Inch Nails begin their North American tour on July 25, at British Columbia's Pemberton Festival.