DMW: Digital Music W...

By now, you have already heard (or read) about Nine Inch Nails' latest Ghosts I - IV. Taking a page straight out of Radiohead's playbook on mixing free with paid downloads, Trent Reznor goes several steps further and offers other price points with interesting value-added bundles. Digital Music News had a headline that read, "NIN Injecting Steroids into Radiohead Model" which is actually true. Apparently, the site was down Monday and then went up again today. "Not enough beer at the party," was what Reznor wrote on his site when it was down. It then pointed to other sites that offered the album while the site was going through maintenance.

The model is what I'm going to talk about. The music, well its NIN, what did you expect? Alright, Ghosts I has nine tracks of instrumentals which can easily find places in film, TV and video games.

Where the model and price points are concerned, this is what you get for the price you pay:

Price Point 1 - Free; you get nine tracks of instrumentals plus a pdf of the artwork/photographs as well as wallpapers, avatars and digital pics in various sizes. Tracks are DRM-free and of high quality at a bit rate of 320 kbps(not 128 kbps like shitty Apple iTunes).

Price Point 2 - $5 download of Ghosts I - IV; you get all 36 tracks in a variety of digital formats including the 40 page pdf. Same as above.

Price Point 3 - $10 2xCD Set; you get the physical discs as well as an immediate download of all 36 tracks in a variety of digital formats. The two audio CDs come in a six panel digipak package with a 16 page booklet. The CDs will be shipped April 8, 2008.

Price Point 4 - $75 Deluxe Edition Package; you get Ghosts I - IV in a fabric slipcase which contains two audio CDs, 1 data DVD with all 36 tracks in multi-track format, a Blu-Ray disk containing Ghosts I - IV in high-definition 96/24 stereo which is accompanied with a slideshow. This package ships out May 1, 2008 while all 36 tracks are available for immediate download in various digital formats.

Price Point 5 - $300 Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition Package, SOLD OUT. Only 2500 were made available. What did it have that people would shell out that much money? According to Digital Media Wire, it had a four-LP vinyl set, limited to 2,500 copies signed by Reznor himself; in addition to what the $75 Deluxe Edition Package was offering.

Back when Radiohead launched their experimental pay-as-you-go service, Reznor was closely following the reactions to the marketplace as well as fan reactions. Once the band's contract with Interscope expired last October, Reznor felt confident that now is the time to try and make a go with self-distribution. Its pretty obvious that Reznor placed a lot of thought into the price point system as well as the value-added bundles and packages. We won't know until maybe next month if this system worked. My gut feeling says "yes" because the value-added bundles were actually attractive as the price increased. And not only that, the bundles didn't diminish in value, they were becoming competitive, piling on one more piece of attraction that can make the consumer pay more just to get that added product.

Where Radiohead had set the blueprint, Nine Inch Nails has raised the bar on standard. More bands should follow this approach and try to match or beat what Nine Inch Nails has offered to the market. Of course, each band is different with different needs. Self-distribution only benefits bands and musicians that already have a strong fan base and are established worldwide. It would be difficult to pull off what NIN did if a new unknown band was just starting out. I can't imagine a band like Maps or Black Kids doing this. Black Kids already offered free downloads off their EP on a promotional scale but that's all. But, its not hard for major labels to try and emulate what NIN just did. It really is just a matter of time before a major label (maybe EMI) will follow NIN's example.