Nine Inch Nails band now a 'free agent'

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor said on the Nails' Web site that the U.S. rock band has left its long-time record label and is now a "free agent."

"I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label," he wrote in a message posted Monday.

"I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate."

Declaring this era in the band's history, "exciting times, indeed," Reznor said he will keep fans posted on what's up next for Nine Inch Nails.