Photo courtesy of Mentat Kibernes
February 9th, 2008 – Last year, I posted briefly about the Nine Inch Nails release “The Slip”. It was released for free download in a number of quality formats, and NIN encouraged the remix of those tracks. While NIN was also offering CD’s and vinyl for sale, I wondered how many fans would actually buy the physical releases when a free digital version was available. Unlike Radiohead’s experiments along the same line, it turns out a lot did.
In a presentation at the MIDEM conference by Michael Masnick of Techdirt, Trent Reznor’s business experiments are examined. I was totally surprised by the sales of his products. There were some pretty innovative ways he used to get people buying.$750,000 revenue on super limited edition versions of one album alone? That number doesn’t even include the other special editions he sold for that same album. Such a success rate for an independent is almost ludicrous.
Some critics have dismissed Trent Reznor’s tactics as unsustainable for independent artists without his reach. I would say that there isn’t a solution that works for every artist, each will have to tailor a business model to their own fanbase. The days of a one-major-label-size-fits-all business model are long over. If you have 15 or so free minutes, watch the video and cherry pick ideas for your own marketing.
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