I did a bit of research after reading this story.

Basically, I kind of lost touch with NIN after The Fragile. Up to that point, pretty much all NIN material was released through Nothing / Interscope - so that's his own indie label (Nothing), propped up by a bigger label (Interscope), which is in turn part of Universal. So Trent basically got himself total artistic freedom to do whatever he wanted.

Then after The Fragile his partner at Nothing did a disappearing act, leaving Trent in the throws of a serious Heroin addiction problem and not a penny to his name. At which point he dissolved Nothing. So he was kind of forced into signing a new deal with Interscope on regular "major label" terms, and now he's disgusted with the state of the industry.

Can't say I blame him.