Following on from the time-limited free download of the last Nine Inch Nails album, frontman Trent Reznor has made the latest 9-track record, Slip, completely available under a Creative Commons licence.
Aside from the announcement getting Dugg over 8000 times at the time of writing, the download allows better than CD quality, with a PDF of the artwork, and the following message:
“the slip is licensed under a creative commons attribution non-commercial share alike license.
we encourage you to
remix it
share it with your friends,
post it on your blog,
play it on your podcast,
give it to strangers,
etc.
©2008 NIN”
It’s the perfect use of loyal fans. NIN aren’t the kind of band who would generally get billboards and mainstream radio attention – but these way loyal fans will seek out the most relevant people to distribute the music and message to, with the added benefit that any remix will increase the chances of a NIN, or NIN-derived track becoming a hit – and meanwhile vinyl and CD junkies get a physical release in July, and NIN get more money from live performances and merchandise.
Just like in business, where small companies are able to get social media, and implement it far more easily across the board than Global Megacorp Inc, individual bands are way, way ahead of the music industry. As are intiatives like Slicethepie.com.