We're very proud to present a new collection of instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV. Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.
Now that we're no longer constrained by a record label, we've decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.
We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. It's licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.
We've also made a 40 page PDF book to accompany the album. If you'd like to download it for free, visit http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf
Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Undoubtedly you'll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file, but if you're interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com, where the complete Ghosts I-IV is available directly from us in a variety of DRM-free digital formats, including FLAC lossless, for only $5. You can also order it on CD, or as a deluxe package with multitrack audio files, high definition audio on Blu-ray disc, and a large hard-bound book.
We genuinely appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy the new music. Thanks for listening.
Trent you godly son of a bitch. They did this with NiggyTardust and i bought that right away. one of the best albums of last year. However, only 20% of downloaders paid for it. Fucking shameful for something that costs so little. Buying this right away.
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XBL: Phillowe88
EVE: CptEvilStomper
Quote:
Originally Posted by Codicier
Also, just so you know, "lol" is not a substitute for a period, comma, semicolon, colon, exclamation point, or question mark.
Trent you godly son of a bitch. They did this with NiggyTardust and i bought that right away. one of the best albums of last year. However, only 20% of downloaders paid for it. Fucking shameful for something that costs so little. Buying this right away.
I am of the opinion that the only mistake made with that whole thing is that there was no streamable method to listen to that album.
To be honest, Stephen King tried this with his novella "The Plant" which he had previously self published and given out as a Christmas card.
In the end, he made about $300k, spent about $100k and found out that if he had just finished the novel he could have made $1 Million+ from a traditional publisher.
I understand that artists are not happy about the deals they get through mainstream publishing, but this kind of thing doesn't work and probably screws over smaller musicians because after a while the attitude will be "Music should be free".
(If that isn't the attitude already.)
__________________ Play Gears of War with it - "Marcus, take cover. Yes...over by the couch!"
To be honest, Stephen King tried this with his novella "The Plant" which he had previously self published and given out as a Christmas card.
In the end, he made about $300k, spent about $100k and found out that if he had just finished the novel he could have made $1 Million+ from a traditional publisher.
I understand that artists are not happy about the deals they get through mainstream publishing, but this kind of thing doesn't work and probably screws over smaller musicians because after a while the attitude will be "Music should be free".
(If that isn't the attitude already.)
I've gotta disagree with you on this and say that the music industry works a lot differently. This could actually work out a lot better by doing it this way. And in this case, it's not about the profit, by about the motivation behind it: breaking free of the broken, tired record industry and their outdated methods of distributing music.
I've gotta disagree with you on this and say that the music industry works a lot differently. This could actually work out a lot better by doing it this way. And in this case, it's not about the profit, by about the motivation behind it: breaking free of the broken, tired record industry and their outdated methods of distributing music.
I agree, I don't think NIN is producing albums for cash anymore, but for music and fans
To be honest, Stephen King tried this with his novella "The Plant" which he had previously self published and given out as a Christmas card.
In the end, he made about $300k, spent about $100k and found out that if he had just finished the novel he could have made $1 Million+ from a traditional publisher.
I understand that artists are not happy about the deals they get through mainstream publishing, but this kind of thing doesn't work and probably screws over smaller musicians because after a while the attitude will be "Music should be free".
(If that isn't the attitude already.)
Yeah, someone like Stephen King could have gotten a million dollar deal from a traditional publisher, but for the 99.99% of authors out there without the leverage of Stephen King, a $300K return on a $100K self publishing effort is god damned phenomenal.
The disparity in the music world mainly affects the major labels and their long standing traditions of excess. With technology at the point that it is, indie labels far and wide are doing just fine. There's a large financial gap between writing an artist a check for $10,000 and telling them to go out and buy a Macbook and some mics and go record their record in Garage Band and having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy rights to songs and an ass load of studio time with famous producers to make the latest shit pop sensation marketable. In the case of the former, the artist can sell 10K records and make a killing for both themselves and their label. It's the latter that is falling upon hard times in the current musical climate.
This is essentially Trent's middle finger to the labels. In the case of Niggy, the "loss" in profit from a label was offset by the sheer volume of new fans Saul got through the exposure of having Trent work on the album. Who knows how it'd work for NIN. I have so much respect for the guy though, going to his label and demanding they not overcharge his fans was ballsy and a hell of a PR move.
__________________
XBL: Phillowe88
EVE: CptEvilStomper
Quote:
Originally Posted by Codicier
Also, just so you know, "lol" is not a substitute for a period, comma, semicolon, colon, exclamation point, or question mark.
Yeah, someone like Stephen King could have gotten a million dollar deal from a traditional publisher, but for the 99.99% of authors out there without the leverage of Stephen King, a $300K return on a $100K self publishing effort is god damned phenomenal.
I think my point was that even with the Stephen King name and a $100k investment in advertising that he still only pulled in about 12% of what he would normally get for writing a novel. (He gets about 2.5 Million per novel.)
It wasn't worth it to him to continue the expirement.
I love what NIN is trying to do, I just wonder if there is another way to do it?
__________________ Play Gears of War with it - "Marcus, take cover. Yes...over by the couch!"
I think my point was that even with the Stephen King name and a $100k investment in advertising that he still only pulled in about 12% of what he would normally get for writing a novel. (He gets about 2.5 Million per novel.)
It wasn't worth it to him to continue the expirement.
I love what NIN is trying to do, I just wonder if there is another way to do it?
I agree with you in that regard. I also see the counter point that acts like Trent Reznor and Radiohead wouldn't be in a position to try something like this without having built up such a substantial fan base thanks to the reach and advertising dollars from years on a major label. That said, I don't expect emerging artists to turn exclusively to a self published distribution model, I just hope the major coup the big labels are seeing from the likes of Reznor, Radiohead, Madonna, and others will turn some influential heads and at least lead to a reevaluation how artists are paid for their work.
New Free NIN Record!
