On Sunday, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor announced the offering of the new album(s), Ghosts I-IV, in a variety of free and paid options reminiscent of Radiohead’s name-your-price model. But Reznor’s model takes things up a notch and offers fans multiple payment tiers. If fans simply want to download the music free, the first nine tracks (Ghosts I) are available from the website at no charge as DRM-free MP3s, and come with a 40-page PDF booklet.
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On Sunday, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor announced the offering of the new album(s), Ghosts I-IV, in a variety of free and paid options reminiscent of Radiohead’s name-your-price model. But Reznor’s model takes things up a notch and offers fans multiple payment tiers. If fans simply want to download the music free, the first nine tracks (Ghosts I) are available from the website at no charge as DRM-free MP3s, and come with a 40-page PDF booklet. The entire 36-song album collection is available for only $5 in assorted digital formats and also includes the PDF booklet.
Physical formats come in a range of possibilities, starting off with two audio CDs in a six panel digipak package with a 16-page booklet priced at $10, and a four-disc Deluxe Edition Package that comes with the 2 audio CDs, a data DVD with all 36 tracks in multiple formats and a Blu-ray disc with high-definition sound quality and video content is priced at $75. And last but not least, the top-tier offering is a $300 Ultra-Deluxe Edition Package that includes four vinyls, special prints and a Reznor autograph. All physical offerings come coupled with immediate digital download options as well.
Reznor has been experimenting with various digital models since last October. While the success of Radiohead’s digital campaign has been difficult to gauge due to questionable accounting numbers, this well-organized, beefed-up NIN offering could well be the guinea pig model to determine the future of physical releases in a digital age.
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