Nine Inch Nails album released to Web
About 6 p.m. PST on Sunday, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor released a 36-song instrumental collection, "Ghosts I-IV," direct to the Internet via his official website. The album is available at a number of pricing options, beginning with a free sampling of nine of the songs.
All 36 cuts can be had for as low as $5 (download), or for as high as $300, a signed limited-edition set that will ship in May (pictured). There's also a $10 double-disc CD set, which includes a 16-page booklet and ships on April 8, or a $75 package that includes two discs, a DVD and a deluxe book.
Four hours after launch, site traffic appeared to prevent me from purchasing any of the options, as the site would fail to load when attempting to check out. However, "Ghosts I-IV" is also available via Amazon.com for $5, which downloaded without any hiccups. Reznor utilized TuneCore to deliver the album to Amazon.
This is how Reznor describes the album, the result of a 10-week musical experiment, on his site: "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective -- dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."
It's long been expected that Reznor would be the next high-profile artist to follow Radiohead's pay-what-you-will, variable pricing model, which the band utilized in October of last year for "In Rainbows."
Reznor, in fact, has already experimented with the model. Last year, Reznor collaborated with Saul Williams, and released the album, "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust," online in November, allowing fans to freely download it or pay $5 for a higher quality version. Initial stats released by Reznor revealed that about 80% fans opted not to pay for the album. Radiohead and its management have refused to release any numbers.
Billboard.com is already reporting that "Ghosts I-IV" will receive a traditional retail release on April 8 via Red Distribution. Owned by Sony BMG, Red distributes a number of independent labels, including ATO Records, which released Radiohead's "In Rainbows" on Jan. 1.
Photo courtesy of http://ghosts.nin.com
I'm the marketing intern at TuneCore, we're the digital distribution company that delivered the new Nine Inch Nails album to Amazon.com. Our service makes it possible for everyone to deliver their music to iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, eMusic, Napster and more while getting to keep 100% of their rights and royalties. We are very proud to have a role in Trent's groundbreaking new vision! Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
-Jake
Posted by: Jake | March 03, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Way to go Trent. Also a big high middle finger to Lars and his buttslamming buddies in the Metallica Mafia. I really hope Rezner breaks sales records with this release.
http://soyawannaknow.blogspot.com
Posted by: http://soyawannaknow.blogspot.com | March 03, 2008 at 10:48 AM
The album and artwork are amazing!
Posted by: TJ Milian | March 03, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The album and artwork are amazing!
Posted by: Califaudio | March 03, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Sorry my email is jake@tunecore.com
Posted by: Jake | March 03, 2008 at 02:34 PM