NIN releases free album

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 6th May 2008
Comments (18) Stumble
The latest Nine Inch Nails release is freely available to anyone with an e-mail address and a media player.

The latest Nine Inch Nails release is freely available to anyone with an e-mail address and a media player.

If you've been wondering where forward-looking musician Trent Reznor would be taking his music after the success of Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV, you're going to enjoy this: he's releasing another album for digital download, and this one is totally free.

The Slip, the latest Nine Inch Nails album to get the digital release treatment, is available in a range of formats including the lossy MP3 and M4A alongside lossless FLAC and uncompressed studio-quality 24/96 PCM – each one of which is completely free from restrictive digital rights management. All you need to download the album in a format of your choice is an e-mail address.

Interestingly, Reznor has opted to provide the higher-quality – and therefore larger file size – versions via the BitTorrent protocol, which should go some way to prevent the bandwidth issues the caused by the massive popularity of the Ghosts I-IV release.

The release goes beyond merely free as in beer, too: the album is being provided under the attribution noncommercial sharealike Creative Commons license. What this means for fans of Reznor's music is that the album can be shared on your favourite file sharing sites, uploaded to your personal website, or even remixed into new tracks – so long as you attribute Nine Inch Nails in the finished article.

With the success of Reznor's digital release of Ghosts I-IV, which it is estimated netted the musician over $1.6 million in sales, it's clear that Nine Inch Nails isn't finished playing with digital distribution outside the auspices of the music 'industry'. Reznor describes this latest release as “a thank you to our fans.” As with prior digital releases, the download comes complete with a PDF copy of the liner notes.

If you want to ensure that Nine Inch Nails gets the money they deserve, don't fret: although the album is currently only available digitally, a physical release is planned for July on both CD and vinyl.

Does this cement Reznor's reputation as the saviour of modern music, or is he just trying to drum up interest in his next album in the same way he accused Radiohead of doing? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote Mankz 6th May 2008, 14:50
Downloaded.
Quote Arkanrais 6th May 2008, 15:08
got it earlier today. its good, though I've only started listening to NIN in the past week.
Quote Tris 6th May 2008, 15:16
its certainly going to do him good from a PR perspective - and the cynic in me says thats probably all this is. Would be nice to think that he is just playing around trying to get the distribution model right before he tries another full scale paid for release.
Regardless of intent, this can only help bring the music industry up to date as the idea gets spread to a wider audience.
Quote sotu1 6th May 2008, 15:43
can someone explain to me....if the album is being released free how does the band make money? The only way I can see it happening is by people going on to buy earlier albums or paying for exclusive material (which in this situation i can't really see much of that happening)
Quote chicorasia 6th May 2008, 15:56
Quote:
Originally Posted by sotu1
can someone explain to me....if the album is being released free how does the band make money? The only way I can see it happening is by people going on to buy earlier albums or paying for exclusive material (which in this situation i can't really see much of that happening)

Generally speaking, the main source of income to bands and artists is ticket sales to their concerts.
Quote E.E.L. Ambiense 6th May 2008, 16:02
Pulled it yesterday morning. Good stuff. IMO, two really good tracks that stand out. Besides, can't beat the price! ;)
Quote Tris 6th May 2008, 16:23
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicorasia
Quote:
Originally Posted by sotu1
can someone explain to me....if the album is being released free how does the band make money? The only way I can see it happening is by people going on to buy earlier albums or paying for exclusive material (which in this situation i can't really see much of that happening)

Generally speaking, the main source of income to bands and artists is ticket sales to their concerts.

and merchandise of course
Quote E.E.L. Ambiense 6th May 2008, 16:33
Depends on the artists too. Indie artists generally make all their money from merch and concerts. CD sales are basically a write-off, if they're on a small label. If they're releasing and distributing it themselves, that's another story. NIN is a well-established project, with a lot of fans/listeners. Mr. Reznor knows how to drive a business at this point, and he's doing it in strides.
Quote TreeDude 6th May 2008, 17:45
Trent has said before these last 2 albums that CD prices are way too high. He has even told fans at shows to steal the album instead, because even he would not pay that much. Give the music away so more people come to the concerts. It is truly all about the music for him.
Quote VipersGratitude 6th May 2008, 20:06
How the record industry works:
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/
Quote DXR_13KE 6th May 2008, 21:42
NIN are now on my white list of cool bands.
Quote AngelOfRage 7th May 2008, 01:10
Cool, i'll give it a listen. I'd always been aware of NIN, but it was only With Teeth that i really liked. I downloaded the previous free album but haven't listened to it much.
Quote r4tch3t 7th May 2008, 01:39
I have never heard NIN music before, but I think I will download it tonight.
Quote Andy Mc 7th May 2008, 08:17
Quote:
The release goes beyond merely free as in beer, too: the album is being provided under the attribution noncommercial sharealike Creative Commons license. What this means for fans of Reznor's music is that the album can be shared on your favourite file sharing sites, uploaded to your personal website, or even remixed into new tracks – so long as you attribute Nine Inch Nails in the finished article.


You missed out the noncommercial bit, meaning that you can also not make any money form the end product of your sampling/remixing/whatever of these tracks.
Quote Ghys 7th May 2008, 14:04
Quote:
Originally Posted by DXR_13KE
NIN are now on my white list of cool bands.

who else is on the list?
Quote Bladestorm 7th May 2008, 18:27
Hrm, better than ghosts, imho (I didn't like that very much, but this I like).
Quote Rebourne 8th May 2008, 07:02
He's got the right idea. I bought ghosts and really liked it. I don't like this one as much but It is still good. The fact he released it as .wav files is really cool too.
Quote Sp! 8th May 2008, 11:04
Trent is no fool, he doesn't need to make money but by realseing this for free, he will make money form the media coverage, incresed ticket/ merchandise sales, maybe a few extra back catalouge sales. but there will also no doubt be a super limited edition $500 release to follow and he knows full well that he has a large fan base that will go and buy the cd even though it's avalible for free because they will buy anything and everything NIN.

Also you have to think how much money he's saved on not having 1000,000 copies of this cd pressed, not advertising anywhere expect the NIN website etc etc. especially as a good proportion of the profits of cd sales goes to the shops and distributers not to the artist or record lables!
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