Apple may try to censor him from iPhones, but Trent Reznor has been crowned the king of online rock royalty in the 13th annual Webby Awards.
The Nine Inch Nails front man and digital music distribution provocateur was awarded with the Webby Artist of the Year title in recognition of his album, The Slip, which debuted for free download in May 2008 on his website. The Webby judges said that by making his music available to fans for free, "Reznor embraced the true openness of the Internet, similar to the release of the album Year Zero, which launched with an award-winning alternate reality game. Trent Reznor's ability to connect with fans far and wide through the Web makes him a qualified ambassador of online culture, and arguably one of the most-recognized artists harnessing the power of the Internet to spread music."
Reznor is currently embroiled in a bizarre tussle with Apple which is selectively censoring the NIN app from iPhones because it contains content from the album The Downward Sprial. That album however is available for purchase in iTunes.
Reznor joins Webby honourees including comedian Jimmy Fallon, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Sarah Silverman and Lisa Kudrow as individuals singled out for their contributions to web culture. Twitter, the fast-growing microblogging site, secured the Webby for breakout of the year. "Twitter levels the playing field for all who use the service, restricting access to no one -- this is the ultimate embodiment of the democratic spirit of the Web," judges said. The first-ever Webby Agency of the Year Award was taken out by R/GA following 8 wins.
The new award recognizes the most successful agency across all Webby categories, including, interactive advertising, websites, mobile sites, and online film and video. Australian Nick Law R/GA's EVP chief creative officer for North America. New Zealand¹s Hyperfactory took out 6 awards for work executed across its international offices including Australia. Significantly the mobile agency's work with Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney on the United Nations Voices project secured the Webby for best Integrated Mobile Experience.
Overall Australian digital and content companies were widely represented as nominees with a handful taking out the top prizes in their categories. Tourism Australia's Consumer Site - australia.com took the Webby for the Tourism category; The Commonwealth Bank's CommSec iPhone application secured the People's Voice Webby in the Mobile Marketplace & Services category. While another People's Voice Webby went Australian agency Circul8 for the Greenpeace - Send a Whale.
The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member group of Web experts. Every category has two winners: one picked by the Webbys and the other chosen by online voting. The awards will be presented in New York on June 8, hosted by Saturday Night Live¹s Seth Meyers. The Webbys are known for their less than a Tweet acceptance speech limitations - winners are limited to five words.
