Bullshit Blog

Trent Reznor, frontman of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) released an instrumental album that comes in four volumes - Ghost I-IV. He’s been giving away Ghost I for free and even uploaded some of the tracks on torrent sites for free download. In spite of all this free music he’s offering, Trent Reznor sold 2,500 copies of his deluxe package which went for $300 each - all of that in 3 days. And all of that went entirely with no backing of any label or marketing. Trent Reznor went entirely free agent in October last year.

So the business model he chose is working out well. Nine Inch Nails is well recognized band and has huge base of fans and followers. This fact surely helped make Trent Reznor $750,000 even when a lot of his new music is available for free. This is a business model Radiohead chose, only NIN is doing it a little different. Radiohead decided to let their fans choose how mcuh they want to pay for their latest album. Nine Inch Nails offers entirely free samples, but not whole set.

Entire collection of 36 songs from Ghost I-IV can be had as digital download for $5, two disc CD version is available for $10, extensive collection is available for $75 and contains both CDs and a DVD which allows fans remixing and altering of NIN songs. The deluxe version costs $300 and there was only 2500 copies made. Each is personally signed by Trent Reznor and contains both CDs, a DVD, vinyl records and some additional material.

Nine Inch Nails (NIN) founder and frontman Trent Reznor has spoken to CNet about the future of his own work and the way that music will be distributed to consumers in the future. Trent Reznor recently parted with Interscope Records after fulfilling his contract and is also issuing a new album by friend Saul Williams through his own imprint as a digital release. Trent Reznor discussed his rationale behind all this, explaining, “Personally, I would like people to support artists. After all, we as artists dedicate our lives to producing the best music we can…should I be angry at the audience that wants to hear music so much, an audience that is so passionate about hearing it they go online to get it two weeks before the music debuts? No, I want them to be that way.”

Trent Reznor acknowledges basing the release of Williams’record, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of N***y Tardust, on Radiohead’s recent online debut of its new effort, In Rainbows. Trent Reznor told CNet that he thought Radiohead’s idea was an “exciting way to sell a record,” adding, “I think there were some serious flaws with how they executed but it was a good idea.”

Trent Reznor admitted that he can’t predict the future of music distribution, saying, “I don’t know what model is going to work. I do know relationships between music labels and artists like myself aren’t going well…Their treatment of artists has less sympathy and it’s more like ‘What can we get out of you?’ My only concern has always been that my audience is treated fairly.”

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of N***y Tardust became available for download on Thursday (November 1st) n***ytardust.com.

Trent Reznor is also working on a follow-up to the latest Nine Inch Nails album, Year Zero.