Trent Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction. Since 1989, Nine Inch Nails has made eight major studio releases.
The most recent releases, Ghosts I–IV and The Slip, both released in 2008, were released under Creative Commons licenses. Both were initially released digitally, with physical releases coming later. The digital release of The Slip was made available completely free of charge.
Ghosts I–IV is available in a number of different formats and forms, including a free download of the first volume, a $5 digital download, a $10 double CD set, a $75 deluxe edition set, and a $300 Ultra-Deluxe limited edition package, which sold out all 2500 copies (grossing $750,000) in 30 hours.
As original and amazing as the music of Nine Inch Nails is, in many respects the approach Trent Reznor has taken with monetizing his art has been even more original and amazing. His experimentation outside of traditional big label marketing routines puts him in a rarified group of musicians.
Since Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute enjoys having a large number of musicians as visitors and contributors I hope this background puts everyone on the same page without boring too many with what may seem to be well known facts.
We also spend a good deal of time on YouTube and are aware of the efforts of many contributors to the “A Peaceful Solution” project to reach a larger audience. To this end I suggest that musicians seeking to make a living from their art and reach a larger audience also watch the Trent Reznor Digg Dialogg.
During the Digg Dialogg Trent Reznor answers 10 questions and while the whole thing is worth watching I found his answers to questions 1 and 3 particularly interesting. What Trent Reznor talks about in those answers parallels my conclusions regarding the future of doing business online.
Because this article represents a departure from the usual fare here we are curious if you, our readers, would be interested in me writing more about this?
We have no intention of making it a dominant topic here but if you could leave a comment below or send us an email through our contact page it would help us better understand your interests.
We have considerable experience with actually running a successful blog (we consider this blog a success) and possess a comprehensive understanding of how things work online. I was first hired to build a commercial web site in 1996 and taught many aspects of building an online presence at the University of Hawaii on Maui for 8 years.
If you would be interested in what I have to share, please let me know.
Peace & love,
Jay
Ps. If you liked this, check out my follow-up article: CwF plus RtB equals Serious Money
I found this VERY informative and interesting. I would love to hear more ideas on this. My husband and I have been contemplating how to release our next album and have considered going the free download route. If people like what we do and want to listen to it, I want it to get into their hands and ears, even if that means making it freely available. But how to make the music seem as though it has value, which we believe it does, even when it’s free, has left us scratching our heads. A lot of times when you make something free, people assume it has no value, or that it’s not very good, and so that’s why you’re giving it away. But this is great. I like Reznor’s ideas and how he’s given his fans a reason to buy.
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Sheila Kirsten Hughes thanks for the feedback. My impression is that this is about more than just giving stuff away. At each step Reznor used these gifts in order to get closer to his fans, for instance asking for an email address. Then these gifts would confirm that giving up an email address really was a good idea.
I’m putting up a new blog that specifically addresses these concerns and once it seems in place will officially open it with an announcement.
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Here is the follow-up article on my personal blog:
CwF plus RtB equals Serious Money
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Hi Jay. I would definitely encourage you to continue writing on this topic here as well as on your blog. Besides personally wanting that, I note that many people who frequent this site are independent musicians, or followers of independent music, who were introduced to this site by the “A Peaceful Solution” movement. As such, I believe that many are interested in new business models and distribution methods that are evolving in the music business. Furthermore, many of the causes that you have covered here at the WNPRI involve thinking people breaking away from the monolithic power entities that dominated before the current information / communications revolution. That movement is happening big-time in the music business.
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I can’t help but think that this model will lead to a flood of music from artists who are the most creative marketers, not the most creative artists. Which is nothing different from the current model. Are we doomed to wade through a mountain of waste to find the diamond?
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