I just got a hold of the new Nine Inch Nails instrumental album, “Ghosts I-IV”, and I love it. It’s complex and rolling and really well done, but that’s not the coolest part.
As some of you know, following Radiohead’s lead, Trent Reznor dropped his label like a dirty needle as soon as Radiohead released “In Rainbow.” Reznor has always been a label hater and used Radiohead’s spark as an excuse to finally ditch his.
That was just the beginning.
For the release of “Ghosts I-IV,” Reznor used a now distinctly familiar form of distribution:
“Here it is. It’s free if you want it, or you can pay for it. I don’t care.”
Available on bittorrent sites across the Web, “Ghosts I-IV” was an instant server loader. On NIN’s website, you could pay five bucks for the download, or get it for free from a torrent. You could also pay ten bucks for a physical copy, or 75 bucks for a deluxe copy, or 300 bucks for a super-limited ultra-deluxe copy, which sold out within hours of release. All of this still sounds very familiar to Radiohead’s “discbox” that could be purchased of “In Rainbows.”
Reznor took Radiohead’s style one step further with “Ghosts I-IV,” however. He removed any and all licensing on the album and registered it under Creative Commons, allowing anyone to legally do whatever they want with the album. People have the power now, from getting to distributing, it’s all in the hands of the fans.
It’s official. With another artist now following in the tradition that Radiohead started, the music world is well on its way towards a revolution. I am glad that I will be hear to witness it.
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