Is this a new trend or the reality of the music industry…?
The new overcrowded website is NIN.com where Trent Rezonor has decided to let you get the new Nine Inch Nails instrumental album à la carte:
Combo number one: “pirate double cheese burger”, free PirateBay/bit torrent download, a first from an established band, the equivalent to the dollar menu with no dollar. As the double cheese burger, product is incomplete; no pickles, just a nice 9 track preview.
Combo number two: “the happy Jeff Bezos” 5 dollar download from amazon.com a nice push for the Amazon mp3 store. After the well reported battle over iTunes pricing structure, I don’t think Steve Jobs will accommodate Mr. Reznor’s new price scheme.
Combo number three: my personal favorite, let’s call it “royale with cheese”. It’s the best of both worlds! Instant download plus a CD and the 16 page booklet. Call me old/new school, but I still like the smell of a new CD in the morning and the ability to browse through the liner notes. Plus I still get the instant satisfaction of digital downloads.
Combo number four: “le big mac” a 75 dollar vinyl edition.
Combo number five: “le big mac super sized” or the 300 dollar version: includes vinyl for purists, CD for your collection, the poster and the book signed by the artist… you get the idea!
Radiohead self-distributed their most recent album and Nine Inch Nails is following their footsteps. The new NIN web site ghosts.nin.com crashed on the release day due to overwhelming demand from hungry fans, which is always a good PR strategy, keeping in mind both companies share the same agency (nasty little man).
With the same approach, and some help from random blog posts, voilà! After all the hype with Year Zero and their online adventure, Trent Rezonor and Co. are taking a minimalist approach with their new instrumental album, Ghosts I-IV. No frills… just a brand new album with 36 songs. No advance copies, no press, no radio, no listening party, just blog postings: a brand new world of distribution reinventing the music industry.
Artists get 100% of the revenue – What a concept! This could be the making of a real “music industry” driven by musicians. I’m still not sure how the new acts will react. Maybe they still need help from the not so “music industry” middle man to promote themselves and lobby radio stations. The industry is in a very fragile state.
For now, I’m still waiting to get my number 3 combo! The site has been down for the past 24 hours, but I’m sure when I get to the register and download my delicious “royale with cheese”, I will enjoy soundscapes that are comparable to my favorite more experimental NIN era: The Fragile.