In chaos, there is opportunity. And yes, cynics, that even applies to the free-fallin’-sales chaos of today’s music industry.
Just ask Trent Reznor.
The Nine Inch Nails mastermind racked up $1.6 million last week from his "Ghosts I-IV" project -- including $750,000 when he sold out 2,500 copies of his “Ghosts I-IV” project at $300 apiece through his website. All in all, more than 780,000 copies of "Ghosts" – four albums of instrumentals that range from rockish to experimental – were distributed or ordered. Depending on their interest, fans could get nine tracks for free, get them all for a $5 download, a $10 double CD and a $75 deluxe package that provides a Blu-ray disc high-quality version and all the songs in multi-track format to be remixed to their hearts’ content.
Radiohead was smart to release its “In Rainbows” album in the groundbreaking, pay-what-you-will model as well as the high-priced super-deluxe versions. But “In Rainbows” was a commercially viable album from one of music’s top bands that would have been a hit no matter what way it came out.
But Reznor’s project is nothing short of brilliant. Four albums of instrumentals, even from a known hitmaker like Nine Inch Nails, would never have found a big audience in the traditional music industry release system. What Reznor has done may end up being the turning point for artists who want to follow their muse wherever it takes them and still get compensated for the journey.
And they don’t necessarily have to handle the whole thing themselves. Though Reznor did set up sales through his nin.com website, he also used the artist-friendly service TuneCore – which allows any artist to sell their music on iTunes, Rhapsody, or, in Nine Inch Nails’ case, Amazon.com, for a flat fee – to take the songs to a broader audience.
PHOTO: nin.com