VIDEO NO NO: One video you may...

VIDEO NO NO: One video you may not see is the clip for Nine Inch Nails’ song “Happiness in Slavery.” The clip, a gruesome depiction of a masochistic fantasy, will, needless to say, not be shown on MTV, save for brief clips that may be used on the channel’s news reports.

Jimmy Iovine, president of Interscope Records, which distributes Nine Inch Nails’ records, says that the company stands behind the video, even though its use as a promotional tool is pretty much limited to screenings in dance clubs. Sources at MTV say that some at the channel are upset that NIN would not provide a broadcast-acceptable version. “But that was never an option,” says Sioux Z., publicist for the reclusive Trent Reznor (NIN’s one-man industrial-rock band). “This video is what it is. (Changing it) would defeat the purpose.”

However, three other videos will be done for songs from the current EP “Broken,” and at some future point they may be packaged--along with the “Happiness in Slavery” clip--in a home video collection. Interscope is also releasing “Fixed,” a limited-edition CD of “Broken” songs remixed by Reznor, Jim (Foetus) Thirwell and others.