Photo courtesy of NIN
June 9th, 2008 – I’m sure hardcore Nine Inch Nails fans already know this, but for all you casual NIN fans here’s a treat: NIN has released their newest album “The Slip” for free download on their website. This isn’t a few tracks free, this is the entire CD. You can download it in a variety of formats and quality levels, including full 24-bit/96khz. You submit your email address and they give you URLs to download the files.
Regardless of your opinion of NIN, they are one of the most progressive artists out there. They encourage you to remix their songs and have a page where you can listen to the mixes of other fans. They go even further and pre-prepare loops so you can play around with them in Garageband. Artists like NIN and Radiohead are pioneers in this new area of music distribution.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Alf
more bands should release their master tracks so I can steal their production techniques or tab songs out
Jun 9th, 2008
smeeta
Wow… that’s pretty impressive…
but where does that leave the rest of us? How are musicians expected to make money when they’re expected to give it away?
Sure, we want people to hear our music, but we want to eat too! ;P
Jun 9th, 2008
Sean
@ALF – Unfortunately, not many bands are as progressive as NIN.
@Smeeta – I think that NIN is riding on the wave of good will they are receiving from such a “generous” gesture. In reality, giving away their music for free is a smart business decision. In this age where people feel entitled to free music, NIN is giving them what they want, and if they didn’t give it away, people would find a way to illegally download it anyways. At least this way, NIN feels like they are in control; as well, they are releasing this album in the summer on CD and vinyl for those who want to get a physical copy of the music.
NIN has the flexibility to do this because they don’t have a record label to take money from their other income sources. Concerts and merchandise are ways that NIN can make money, and the more people who hear the album, the better since they are more likely to pay to see the concerts and plunk down $30 bucks for a t-shirt.
Really, NIN is maximizing their income with the new dynamics of the music business. On a side note, they also allow you to bootleg their live concerts. They are basically supporting the fans who support them, and this also hypes up other fans who might enjoy the bootleg and then want to experience the real thing.
Jun 10th, 2008
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