NIN Album

[Will]

So, NIN have a new album out, and an interesting distrubution model. I'm pretty impressed with the model (free sample, cheap download for the rest, option to pay for physical product or loseless), and I'll probably be buying it, since I'm a fan anyway.

What do you lot think of the model? (You can also tell me what you think about NIN, but I'm not so interested in your opinions there)

 

[bob269]

Radiohead's Rainbows was released in a similar manor, free download with the option of donating what you think it is worth or the option to buy the hardcopy with artwork, seemed to work for them.

Not sure how much they had donated compared to what would of been typical album sales, i'm sure the info is only a google away.

The reason download sites are becoming more popular are partly due to not having to buy an entire album where by half the tracks are crap, but as you say your typical fan would probably buy it anyways.

 

[TdC]

not the same though: Renzor is being the future imo, Radiohead was trying something out. Imo a free low bitrate and a payable lossless is going to be where it's at, with art purchasable on the side. Ofc the record companies will freak out because their purpose becomes defunct in the interweb age. Well, perhaps not defunct, but their role has to change if they want to keep up with the times.

 

[Chilly]

this kind of thing is fine for established bands, but new guys need record companies because of the marketing might they have. A small band will have a hard time without a record deal getting anywhere without a lot of luck.

 

[Trem]

NIN ftw!

 

[Will]

this kind of thing is fine for established bands, but new guys need record companies because of the marketing might they have. A small band will have a hard time without a record deal getting anywhere without a lot of luck.

Getting a record deal takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of luck. Once you have one, it isn't a one-way trip to the golden land of cocaine and hookers. This model at least gives a far larger cut of success to the band themselves. Word of mouth promotion might be hard work. There is nothing to stop the bands management dabbling in a bit of promotion too.

I think there might be a business model available here that works. Most bands don't have the resources to blaze a trail like this, but if there were a dedicated distributor, who bands would send their records to, and would control the hardware (public bittorrent for the freebie, private tracker for the paid downloads?) and take a %age, it'd take the technical knowledge requirement away. And people could browse tracks in one dedicated site, as well as taking word of mouth recommendations. The price is so cheap at $5 that it would be less hassle than pirating.

Anyone want to set up a business with me?

 

[nath]

Fantastic idea, I hope they make buckets of cash and this sort of thing really picks up.

 

[Chilly]

Getting a record deal takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of luck. Once you have one, it isn't a one-way trip to the golden land of cocaine and hookers. This model at least gives a far larger cut of success to the band themselves. Word of mouth promotion might be hard work. There is nothing to stop the bands management dabbling in a bit of promotion too.

I think there might be a business model available here that works. Most bands don't have the resources to blaze a trail like this, but if there were a dedicated distributor, who bands would send their records to, and would control the hardware (public bittorrent for the freebie, private tracker for the paid downloads?) and take a %age, it'd take the technical knowledge requirement away. And people could browse tracks in one dedicated site, as well as taking word of mouth recommendations. The price is so cheap at $5 that it would be less hassle than pirating.

Anyone want to set up a business with me?

Had that idea 2 years ago, wrote half the website (it worked too) then realised every **** and his dog are doing it. the problem is that no one place has it all, so launching yet another whatever.com that does nothing new wont do anything, except spread the money around even thinner.

 

[Will]

Ah, but you'd target unsigned bands / bands without a record label.

The first big flaw is record companies stealing any bands which could actually make you a profit. I'm sure there are others.

 

[RandomBastard]

It would seem people are still leeching it....
When the music costs nothing, why do freetards prefer to leech? | The Register

 

[gremlin]

You're forgetting the most awesome part, the album is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Creative Commons NC-SA.

Trent ftw.

 

[Ch3tan]

It would seem people are still leeching it....
When the music costs nothing, why do freetards prefer to leech? | The Register

Well, it would be all over the torrent sites even had he just released it as a retail CD. I think the important thing is that the pricing and choice of format and quality is moving in the right direction.

We will have to wait for some stats to see how many they have actually sold via the web compared to the retail cd.

 

[bob269]

It would seem people are still leeching it....
When the music costs nothing, why do freetards prefer to leech? | The Register

In all fairness reading the comments, a lot of people are using the torrents simply because the NIN site was either dead or painfully slow.

 

[Will]

I logged in at 11 last night, downloaded Ghost I at 300kb/s, which isn't too shabby. I'll probably buy the rest tonight.

 

[Jonty]

Hi guys

I think it's great that artists are trying new things, but obviously it will take time for the industry to change. Only 32% paid anything in Radiohead's experiment, two-thirds of those only paid the minimum 45p handling charge, and the rest averaged out at £2.90. Of course it's not a disaster, but it does reflect people's mindset.

Personally I like the idea of offering different things at different price points: free streaming, price-to-bitrate related downloads, CDs with bonus material, concert tours etc. If you offer people more options then they may be more inclined to part with some money (although one thing that drives me crazy is people who refuse to legally pay for 256kbps tracks 'because its not lossless', even when they can't tell the different between a coat hanger and 'decent' kit).

Ultimately some people will always pirate things because they're too lazy, ignorant, or poor to do otherwise. But hopefully as more purchase choices become available, we'll see more people choosing these new alternatives (and it's clear that IP legislation, education etc. are fairly ineffective; my Taiwanese friends are well-educated and affluent by Asian standards, but they all don't think twice about pirating media).

Kind regards

Jonty

P.S. I legally download my music, but recently I bought a couple of CDs and I have to admit it's a nice experience having something you can touch (e.g. the inserts with the lyrics (and guitar chords, in one case), the bonus CD/DVD etc.).

 

[Opt1]

It would seem people are still leeching it....
When the music costs nothing, why do freetards prefer to leech? | The Register

Many people I encounter are of the mind that they cba to pay money for a lot of music.. but wouldn't mind having it around..

Hence why so many still download.

Is a nice idea, but personally I'll always prefer to have a hard copy of any band I like and I feel deserves my support.. would prefer they got more than they do and the record labels got less, but that's out of my hands.

 

[MYstIC G]

What do you lot think of the model?

Made Radiohead look like a bunch of pricks, so thumbs up!