Nine Inch Nails, and Trent Reznor in particular, has been a pretty outspoken advocate of ditching the “major labels” and embracing digital distribution and all of its opportunities and challenges.
TechDirt has a great update of the some the band’s schemes, including hiding tickets around LA and posting coordinates on their website. Of this, TechDirt says:
“While it may be a little silly, it is yet another way for Reznor to build up a really loyal fanbase. He’s making being a fan fun.”
I think that’s a brilliant observation. They’re making being a fan fun. Think about that. How often are things about being a fan not fun? Standing in line in the rain is not fun. Having to deal with TicketMaster is definitely NOT fun. By making “fun” a key part of being a fan, Nine Inch Nails is showing just how they’ve remained relevant for so long in such a volatile market.
The internet has been all aflutter since first Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and then Jim Griffin of Warner Music discussed the idea of an internet tax.
According to CNet:
“The proposal outlined in the interview Griffin gave Portfolio.com suggested that ISP fees could create a $20 billion pool that would go to artists and copyright holders. Consumers would have the option of paying the fee or submitting themselves to advertising. ”
First of all, the term “submitting themselves to advertising” is a great phrase. Probably more truth in it than intended. As I see it, the big problem with a fee attached to you ISP bill is that it doesn’t account for all time people are accessing the web from something other than their own ISP connect (like I’m doing now as I write this post in a cafe in NYC). This only gets more complicated as municipal wifi rolls out.
In terms of ad-supported music, that works fine when streaming music since ads can simple be placed in the mix, just like radio, but it doesn’t really help when people are downloading songs to listen to on their iPod. I don’t imagine I would put up with pre-roll ads on my songs.
Obviously, the music industry is going through some seismic shifts and ideas like a music tax sound to me like the big guys scrambling for some way to maintain centralized control. Instead, I think more musicians are going to be leaving the big label system and taking part in smaller organizations that are more artist-centric. This will lead to fewer platinum-selling artists, but a huge growth in artists making money playing music.
Nine Inch Nails is following in the footsteps of a growing number of bands that have left the traditional world of labels and is self-distributing their own work.
In addition, they are offering fans the chance to download their basic album in for free, without any DRM. As PaidContent points out, though, that’s just the beginning:
” — $5 download: All 36 tracks in a variety of digital formats, plus a 40-page PDF.
– $10 two-disc set: A double-disc set, packaged in a Digipak with a 16-page booklet, to be shipped on April 8. Includes immediate download of album.
– $75 deluxe edition: Ghosts I-IV in a “hardcover fabric slipcase containing two audio CDs, one data DVD with all tracks in multi-track format, and a Blu-Ray disc of Ghosts I-IV. Ships May 1. Includes immediate download of album.
– $300 “ultra-deluxe limited edition package”: Deluxe edition plus a four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, which is packaged in a fabric slipcase. Two limited-edition Giclee prints are included; package is numbered and signed by Trent Reznor. Limited to a run of 2500, and one piece per customer. Ships May 1 and includes immediate download.”
This is definitely beginning to be a seriously interesting marketplace with so many bands exploring alternatives to traditional distribution and monetization methods. It will be neat to see if they release reliable sales data so everyone can learn from their experiment.
As Mashable notes:
“Let me just stop here for a second and say that personally, I haven’t listened to NiN much since the Downward Spiral phase, but if there’s one album I’m gonna buy this year (I usually go to concerts and buy t-shirts, as I feel the band profits more directly from this; I have quite a collection), it’s going to be this one. Finally, you get good value for your money, and you get a fantastic number of options which cater to every pocket. I’m sure that fans will realize this and get the option they can afford, be it free, or the ultra-deluxe one.”
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July 14, 2008 7:46 pm | 
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