Free Is The New Black
In a rather prophetic post over at Dead of Summer (a blog post that partially inspired me creating this site, btw), I called that the future of all media was free-to-buy. Generally known as the webcomics economic model, Radiohead started the trend for musicians with their “pay-what-you-want” release of In Rainbows, but last night, Trent Reznor took it to a new level, dropping a brand spankin’ new Nine Inch Nails album: the 36-track instrumental release entitled Ghosts I-IV.
What really makes this release stand out is it’s multi-tiered approach to selling the album…
For Free, that’s right, Zero Dollars, you get…
FREE DOWNLOAD
Ghosts I – The first 9 tracks from the Ghosts I-IV collection available as high-quality DRM-free MP3s (320kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged) including complete 40 page PDF. Also includes the digital extras pack – various wallpapers, icons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.
Kick that donation up to $5…
$5 DOWNLOAD
Ghosts I-IV – All 36 tracks in a variety of DRM-free digital formats (320 kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged; FLAC Lossless; Apple Lossless) including a 40 page PDF. Also includes the digital extras pack – various wallpapers, icons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.This version is also available from the Amazon MP3 store. – Download the PDF Booklet here.
Want to give them $10? It gets EVEN BETTER!
$10 2XCD SET
Ghosts I-IV – 2 audio CDs in a gatefold digipak package with a 16-page booklet. To be shipped TBD. Includes immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in same choice of formats as $5 Download option. Download will include the 40 page PDF and the digital extras pack – various wallpapers, cons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.This configuration will be released to retail in North America (April 8), Australia (April 5), the UK (April 8), Japan (April 5) and most European territories (April 8).
Still not enough Ghosts for you? Kick Reznor and co an additional 65 smackers, taking it to $75 total….
$75 LIMITED EDITION DELUXE PACKAGE
Ghosts I-IV – Hardcover book holding 2 audio CDs, 1 data DVD of all 36 tracks in multi-track format (in .wav files readable by Mac and Windows), and Blu-ray disc featuring stereo recordings in high-definition 24 bit 96Khz with exclusive slide show. Includes immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in all formats and with all extras mentioned above. Also includes 48-page hardcover of photographs by Phillip Graybill and Rob Sheridan. Discs and art book both housed in fabric slipcover.
What if you’re a creepy NIN obsessive? (and god knows there are…) For the low low price of $300, get this!
$300 ULTRA-DELUXE LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE
Ghosts I-IV – Contains all elements from deluxe package, along with exclusive 4XLP 180-gram vinyl set, and two limited edition Giclee prints available exclusively in this package. Disc book, art book, and prints are all housed in a fabric slipcover. 4XLP vinyl set comes in its own fabric slipcover. INCLUDES immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in all formats and with all extras mentioned above. LIMITED TO 2500 PIECES, NUMBERED AND PERSONALLY SIGNED BY TRENT REZNOR.
What’s even better? Trent himself uploaded the free version of the album to various bittorrent sites, such as The Pirate Bay, What.cd, and Waffles, with the following message…
Hello from Nine Inch Nails.
We’re very proud to present a new collection of instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV. Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.
Now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.
We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. It’s licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.
We’ve also made a 40 page PDF book to accompany the album. If you’d like to download it for free, visit http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf
Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Undoubtedly you’ll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file, but if you’re interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com, where the complete Ghosts I-IV is available directly from us in a variety of DRM-free digital formats, including FLAC lossless, for only $5. You can also order it on CD, or as a deluxe package with multitrack audio files, high definition audio on Blu-ray disc, and a large hard-bound book.
We genuinely appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy the new music. Thanks for listening.
See, RIAA? THAT is how you embrace the listeners! If the fact that the ghosts.nin.com site was down most of Sunday night/Monday morning, and people who bought downloads weren’t able to get them due to the strain were any indication, I think it’s safe to say this release is a success. And for those of us who don’t like purchasing the album online? An in-store release on April 8th. Well done, Trent. You’ll be seeing my $10.
7 Responses to 'Free Is The New Black'
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[...] | George Ou | ZDNet.com wrote an interesting post today on Free Is The New BlackHere’s a quick excerptGhosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution… [...]
Bittorrent » Free Is The New Black
3 Mar 08 at 9:11 am
Well this would be great if they could get it right. I actually ordered this ($5 version) the day it came out from the nin website. My file transfer kept breaking after 7-10MB and my download expired. I e-mailed support twice and haven’t heard back. As far as I’m concerned at the moment Trent Reznor just stole $5 from me.
Note to all folks attempting to do this: DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT unless you’ve got bandwidth and a decent level of service to handle any problems that may occur. I was all too happy to embrace and support this model for music distribution, but when it fails, it fails big. I’m none too happy with this and I’m out five smackers until some support douche from the nin store feels like helping me get the fucking music I bought!
Brian
4 Mar 08 at 5:39 pm
Well, that is one of the downsides, however…since it’s licensed under CreativeCommons, you can download torrents without worry!
Like THIS one!: http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4059246/Nine_Inch_Nails_-_Ghosts_I-IV_2008_320kbps_And_Extras
Marty Day
4 Mar 08 at 7:09 pm
Yeah, but I paid my money so I can get it legally, and while in this particular instance thepiratebay may be a legal option, it’s not the option I paid my $5 for. If these bands can’t figure out how to minimize server load so that paying customers can get what they’ve purchased then this method of distribution isn’t going to work very well. I STILL haven’t heard back yet from support. Will I? Who knows?
As it stands, this is the first new music I’ve bought in a long time (TMBG and Weird Al being the last 2 things I’ve bought) and I also don’t download illegally. I don’t listen to music much anymore because I’m boycotting the music industry. When something like this happens outside the music industry it’s fantastic. I pay money to support it. I don’t think I will again until I have assurances I can actually get my music. I know that I can damn well assure anybody that I’ll never buy anything from nin again, at least not with this method of distribution. If they can’t get it right, they don’t deserve my patronage. Sorry.
Brian
5 Mar 08 at 4:25 am
It’s also probably worth mentioning that they’ve updated the site saying that all downloads are being reset, and they didn’t expect this response.
My thought is that they anticipated a response similar to the Saul Williams release that Reznor oversaw, and GREATLY underestimated their response.
I completely understand your frustration with the situation, but remember, it’s the innovators that always hit the bumps first. If I recall correctly, In Rainbows had a lot of the same problems during the first 24-48 hrs.
Marty
5 Mar 08 at 5:17 am
Well as of a few seconds ago, my download link not only doesn’t tell me that the download limit’s been exceeded (which it did on Monday evening), but it tells me it’s invalid entirely. Not a good start. Honestly, if I could get my $5 back I’ll just get it from Amazon, or not. I’m entirely soured by this now.
Brian
5 Mar 08 at 7:32 am
Rare Book Stores…
The normal person would believe spending the time to acquire info on this subject is a waste of money….
Rare Book Stores
29 Mar 08 at 12:31 pm