Ghosts: now haunting you in five different ways.
Nine Inch Nails is the latest band to distribute its music online without a label, offering a 36-track album in multiple digital and physical formats.
The group's latest music project, Ghosts I-IV, was released on the Nine Inch Nails Web site today. The album can be downloaded for US$5 in MP3, FLAC or AAC formats. A 40-page PDF booklet and "digital extras" including wallpapers and icons are included in the download package.
Alternatively, the first nine tracks -- along with the booklet and extras -- can be obtained for free in MP3 format. All files are DRM-free.
In a statement posted on the band's Web site, lead singer Trent Reznor called the project "a wildly varied body of music that we're able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed -- from a 100 percent DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we've ever created".
The "luxurious physical package" option refers to a limited edition US$300 set that includes four vinyl LPs, a 48-page book of photographs, two art prints and a photograph-and-music slideshow on Blu-ray disc. Each set is signed by Reznor.
Two other physical formats complete the list of options: a US$10 two-CD set and a US$75 version with DVD full of session WAV files, Blu-ray disc and photo book. Both include access to downloadable versions of the album in a choice of three file types.
The multi-format Ghosts follows Radiohead's In Rainbows album release in October, which saw the UK band offer tracks as DRM-free MP3s at a price determined by individual fans. The album was later made available for a fixed price as a CD-and-vinyl box set.
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SimonJ
03/03/2008 08:28 PM
NIN also released their previous album 'Year Zero' online in a similar fashion, as well as the conventional method.
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walterhunt
04/03/2008 04:48 AM
Not to mention the whole Saul Williams album that Trent was heavily involved in.
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mortsahl
05/03/2008 07:51 PM
If you were to visit the NIN site, ghosts.nin.com, look at the FAQ, it specifically states "Ghosts I-IV is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license." All 36 tracks are freely distributable for non-commercial use.
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