Yay, Another Way of Selling Music

The distribution method of Saul William's new album, "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggytardust!" is what I think is the best reaction of the post- In Rainbows "experiement" . Even if it's just merely a few weeks after the news that Radiohead released that shockwaved the whole industry.

It's an improvement on the In Rainbows way of paying your money, with a set price of $5.00 or choose to pay nothing. Also, you can choose 192kbps, 320kbps, or Flac files ( better quality than In-Rainbows)if you choose to pay $5.00. If you choose not to pay, fret not, you still get 192kbps. Sweet.

And, it includes artwork and lyrics. Yay, now I know what the hell they're talking about.

Now I paid my $5.00, mostly for the cause of it. Besides, Trent Reznor produced it, so it should be interesting. It should also be mentioned that Reznor himself said he would like the same method of distribution in interviews couple months back, so I guess NIN will possibly employ the same method for the future. And yes, NIN should put a physical thing out too if they use this method mentioned above, as long as they don't cost $80.00 like In Rainbows.

Also, I heard "Break" off of Niggy Tardust, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was rich and complex, has texture and depth. Much better than comtemporary hip-hop.

Trent Reznor is Happy

It's not ending yet. So...
OMG! NIN is now independent! Like Trent can do whatever he wants now! He's not on Universal or Interscope anymore!

Yes, Mr.Reznor says goodbye to his record label, finally. After his anger and dissatisfactions directed toward his label, it's good to hear that he get to do whatever he wants. He's been saying that he's eager to get off of the label since March (or at least that's the first time I really heard about it, not counting the time he was with battle with TVT).

Here's the whole statement from www.nin.com :

08 October 2007: Big News
Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.
posted by Trent Reznor at 10:45 AM. 1203 Comments

So yeah, it would be interesting to see where he goes from there. I have a faint idea of what he's going to do (but what do I know?), I think he's going to distribute his music directly from his site (or some site), have some sort of cheap price, and people get their music directly from him. At least that's what I think he's going to do, according to things he said interviews.

And he's planning it for a while now, I can tell.

I was surprised that he announced so suddenly, I expected it to be later. But, sooner the better. Established acts should be leading the way. While this will not trigger evolution or anything, this can be a catalyst of change to come.

Radioheads are Smart Businessmen

OMG! They put the new Radiohead album on the net! For free! For download!

I pre-ordered Radiohead's new album "In Rainbows" (got to say that's a bad title, in my opinion) last night. I just have to be part of this most groundbreaking, innovative, and futuristic musical distribution event ever in the history of the Internet and download music! Plus, I like Radiohead.


I've got to admit, I do think that this method of distribution is quite clever, giving it the appearance that they're giving the album to the people for free, thus gaining them more reputation among the Internet-oriented music fans. I've also got to say that they're the first major act to openly use this method, and thinking about a solution for the selling of music in the collapsing industry. In the way, they're thinking about the future, and giving other artists the result of their "experiment" and let the others further develop a way to distribute their own music.

But really, the album is not free.


First, it's released also as a super deluxe version that costs like $40 in US dollars (or something). Second, they asked for "donations"! I would think when most of the people pre-ordering the album on downloads would feel guilty not giving them a bit of money (I gave them 2.00 in Euro, since I'm poor and charging the credit card of my father). And I assume, people who order that album are at least have some interests in Radiohead, making them more vulnerable to the "donation" tactic. And hard-core Radiohead fans? They're throwing their money in there.

Of course, you can put 0.00 in that donation box, and I don't really think that will be a large fraction. The album can be free, but really, it's not free.

Of course, there's people saying that "I'm going to pay nothing, then I'm not even going to listen to it". Ha ha.