Hell the bands can make a ton of money this way too.  Radiohead released their album and fans got to choose the price they wanted to pay.  And I think I saw that it was something like most were going at about $10.  $10 for a digital album, really seems like a bargain when compared to CD’s but it ends up being even more money for the seller because there’s no longer a production cost, or built in fees for lost/damaged albums.  I read some article talking about how essentially even paying that “reduced” price, fans are overpaying for the album.  Sounds like a good deal for a savvy rocker, make even more money and your fans think you’re giving them a deal.  And you’re sticking it to the man.

I read it right on the front of nin.com for free.

It is one thing for an already established mullion selling artist to ditch the system that got them where they are (to some extent)… it is quite another thing for an artist no one has heard of to break through the noise of the industry as a whole without the massive media backing of a major. Not impossible, by any stretch, but certainly more difficult. It will be interesting to see how this pans out, assuming it keeps on keepin’ on.

And besides, his best albums were made when he was pissed at his masters… Can we now expect nothing by The Fragile?

If I could pick and choose my music and burn a CD of it, I’d be in love. It would be a well spent $20 bucks if it was $20 bucks worth of quality music. I wish that were the case.

Oh… wait… it’s is. That’s exactly what I do right now! I believe one dollar per MP3 is perfect. I get what I want and burn what I want.

here are my thoughts.

keep in mind, i am still, to this day, a nin collectwhore(tm).

trent is well aware that by incorporating the halo numbering system, there is a rabid (albeit smaller than in 1995/96) fan base who requires complete collections.  it is clear he knows this based on the fact that he made an (idiotic) decision not to give capital G a halo number “so people won’t feel the need to collect it” (uh… duh.  now it’s just more difficult for me to alphabetize on my web-based music list ;)

i 100% agree with his decision to do away with the umpteen million versions of each halo.  but…

if he releases his music ONLY in mp3, i will be very annoyed.  frankly, it will fuck with my cd and vinyl collection that began in 1991 and is still going strong today.

he should release his cds via nin.com AND make them available via itunes (a direct mp3 download from nin.com would be fine as well, but you do need some sort of distribution to the masses available).  he will sell significantly fewer cds, but who cares these days (other than the aforementioned rabid fan base ;)

i was at a pinback concert yesterday and they did something i thought was super.  they were selling their newest album on vinyl at the merch booth.  on the cover it said (and i paraphrase): “CONTAINS A COUPON FOR A FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD OF THE ALBUM, INCLUDING BONUS MP3-ONLY TRACKS”

so, you get to be all happy with the collector part of it, but still, as john put it, get it in a format you can actually access ;)

LaShawn Barber has a similar post up, although it doesn’t mention NIN (it does touch on Radiohead and Jamiroquai, and you have to ignore the stuff about Hanson...she’s been on a major Hanson kick lately.  Interesting read.=, though.  And good for Trent (despite being a Christ-punching leftist and all).

it is quite another thing for an artist no one has heard of to break through the noise of the industry as a whole without the massive media backing of a major

True, but I think that as more bands get away from the “system,” some brilliant entrepreneur will come up with a company or seventeen that just does promotions-for-hire for bands without a big name.  Working directly with the bands, being answerable to them (and likely a manager) will drive the price of promotions down in the long run, benefiting new bands more than established acts.

I hope.  :)