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Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has often voiced frustration with his record label for ripping off fans with high prices (going so far as to encourage fans to steal his music in response), admitted to file-sharing copyrighted material, and seeded his own torrents of rare and/or unreleased NIN content as “guilt-free downloads.” File-sharing has been a recent topic of confusion for me, and I made some decisions based on some helpful conversations with good friends. Long story short, the “guilt-free” option held particular appeal.

I’d been on a nostalgia-powered NIN kick over the last few days and was surprised to discover that not only did they just put out a new album, but the band wanted to take it directly to their fans and general public, encouraging them to share it with anyone that would be interested.

Now that he’s left his old label, Reznor released his new four volume instrumental set entitled Ghosts I-IV via Creative Commons and posted it directly on his website. I was floored by the pricing structure and the file options (all tracks DRM-free, and available as 320kbps fully tagged mp3s, FLAC Lossless, or Apple Lossless):

$0 - Ghosts I - the first 9 tracks plus 40 pg PDF and digital extras (wallpapers, icons, etc.)

$5 - Ghosts I-IV - the complete collection, plus PDF/extras

$10 - Ghosts I-IV on 2 CDs in a six-panel digipack, plus immediate access to digital format and extras

Plus for the crazy hardcore fan (which I am not), there are more elaborate versions going up to $300, with more goodies such as multi-track versions to make your own remixes, Blu-Ray hi-def discs, fancy hardback books, and limited editions signed by the man himself.

Reznor has encouraged sharing Volume 1 via torrent, podcasts, etc.

From the release notes:

Now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.

Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Undoubtedly you’ll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file. But if you’re interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com.

I’m thrilled to see an established artist (especially one that I like) take such a bold step, and am curious to see where it goes. The $5 asking price for high quality files seems more than fair, especially with the authorized “try before you buy” option and supplemental material. Although the complete set is easily available for free, I’d hope that enough people would be convinced to pay at a considerably lower price than retail or even iTunes. I would love for this distribution model to succeed so that NIN and other artists are able to release more music through this method.

As for the new music itself, I’ve always appreciated the quieter instrumental side of NIN. The Still EP is a dark and beautiful work, as are tracks like “La Mer” from The Fragile and “a warm place” from The Downward Spiral. I’ve only obtained Ghosts I so far (the nin website is being slammed) and generally liked what I heard. Some of the louder parts are patience-testing, but overall I’m enjoying the sparse instrumentation as background music in the same mysterious and brooding vein.

If you’re curious: Download Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV