Just add "media mogul" to his long list of accomplishments. As someone who owns the Wax Trax 12" vinyl of "Down in it" - purchased in 1989 - this has been a long, fun trip! And he just keeps getting better!

Now, if I can just convince the wife (our first "date", incidentally, was a NIN concert supporting the "Downward Spiral" album – I wore fishnets, hot-pants and combat boots – she fell in love) that the $300 is a worthwhile investment...

Hey, will this work? Meaning, Is this going to make the band rich? Is this going to be as remunerative as selling albums the old way?

Uh... "Rich" notwithstanding, how could it not be as remunerative? Trent Reznor could sell his album for piss in a cup and would still make more money from each sale than he presumably did (assuming that his was a typical recording contract) under his old arrangement.

The trend will continue until one of two things happens: either the entertainment industry exacts revenge by attempting a legal/legislative takeover (in the name of "intellectual property") of basic internet infrastructure, or they go quietly into the good night.

What seems more likely?

Trent Reznor was already involved in something very similar last November-- he and Saul Williams released the album they collaborated on (The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust) as a free download, with higher-quality files available for $5.

So, yeah, Radiohead did it first, but Saul Williams was the first to do it right. And apparently Reznor was happy with how that went.

The word that pops to mind when I read this is the old consulting saw of "disintermediation." Part of the benefit of the old interwebs is supposed to be removing distributors who don't add any value.

In days of yore, musicians made what they were given in exchange for a performance. The record companies inserted themselves as pimps in exchange for managing and promoting the sales of the physical production of the recording artefacts that made musicianship more than a hobby or a subsistence occupation.

Now that bands can communicate with broad audiences via the internet, contract hard copy production directly with CD manufacturers and distributors, and sell soft copies of their music directly, what need is there for the increasingly parasitic business model of the record companies? None, really.

I've long since lost interest in NIN partly because I didn't need Trent Reznor to join me in the transition to opportunistic middle age - but full credit to him for jumping in with both feet and showing that he understands how to interact with fans / buyers. May many more bands follow his example.

Never understood why people like them. Still don't.

If you can't sing without running your voice through a processor, don't sing.

At The Pirate Bay, there's 2300+ seeds for the Ghosts I files, and I downloaded all 64 MB in less than a minute. Wow.

Interestingly, there's 1800+ seeds for the whole Ghosts I-IV collection. At $5 each, that's $9000 that NIN didn't get today.

Regarding the music: It sounds like really well-produced suspenseful background music to a horror movie. I'll be sure to play it every time I'm investigating strange noises in an isolated farmhouse.

By the way, Pretty Hate Machine came out 19 years ago. Dear Lord I am soooooo old.

Nicely done, Trent!

I do wonder if this sales model can really be feasible in a larger sense, though. After all, for Radiohead and NIN - two multiplatinum acts that have already made enough money for life with the traditional album model - the financial risk they are taking in shaking things up this way is minimal to none.

In other words - if Trent turns 2 bucks of profit from however many "Ghost" tunes/albums are sold today, he's still not going hungry tonite, y'know?

Fair enough - but what about upstart bands? Can they try to market a promising debut album in a way analogous to Radiohead or NIN, and still make a living wage profit out of it...without any built-in fan loyalty, etc.?

********

At the end of the day, I believe there remains only one solid way for a young band or new musical act to make a living out of rock & roll: Tour, baby. Stay on the road, play everywhere that'll have you...and hope that you build a responsive fan base.

"I'd rather be MC Hammer than Nine Inch Nails." Reznor spent the last month bitching about how badly the Saul Williams experiment went. Now he goes and does it with his band's album? More power to him, but Radiohead could afford to do this since they actually sell albums. NIN hasn't been relevant, much less successful, since the mid-nineties. Unless American music tastes slide back a decade or more pretty quickly, I think a more copies of this will be stolen than paid for.

That initial "free/pay what you want" release consisted of poorly-encoded files. More acceptably-encoded versions were made available later, at a higher price.

While not a fan of NIN, it's very cool of Reznor to release "Garageband" versions of songs that can be opened and remixed using Apple's Garageband software.

I am unfamiliar with NIN's music (though I have heard of the band) and this makes me want to log on to their website and order the CD's just to financially reward them for their efforts.

Radiohead could afford to do this since they actually sell albums. NIN hasn't been relevant, much less successful, since the mid-nineties.

Um, I'm not sure what planet you're living on, but NIN last two albums (released in 05 and 07) sold quite well. I believe they both went GOLD, which is about the same as what Radiohead's last couple of albums sold.

You can argue relevancy if you want, but at least get your facts straight.

Sometimes little facts like this can reveal the utter and total ignorance (as in totally unaware) of the writer in regards to the subject.

The band is for playing live.

In the studio Trent does everything, write, perform, produce Etc. to make the finished product.