Nine Inch Nails Advances Online Music

Nine Inch Nails, the band that made Industrial/Goth go pop is following Radiohead’s example in online music distribution. Based on announcements from other artists like Oasis and Jamiroquai - others are soon to follow.

You can decide between several order options to obtain Nine Inch Nails latest album. Ghosts I-IV an instrumental recording consisting of 36 songs. Among the digital download options is a freebee! Trent Reznor, leader of Nine Inch Nails, is giving away the first nine songs of the album in a free download package.

All songs are DRM free and when downloading the entire album you can choose from several formats including 320-bit MP3, FLAC or Apple lossless.

Other Ghost I-IV options:

• $5 – Downloads Ghosts: I-IV in its entirety, all 36 tracks plus a 40 page PDF. 
• $10 – Double CD package with a 40 page booklet. 
• $75 – Deluxe edition includes slipcase with double CD set plus a data DVD with all tracks in multiple formats. Plus you can immediately download the album in the format of your choice. A Blu-ray of Ghosts I-IV will ship when available on May 1st. 
• $300 – This is the Ultra-deluxe and consists of everything in the Deluxe package with a four LP set on 180 gram vinyl. Also includes two limited-edition Giclee autographed prints. The ultra deluxe package has a limited run of 2500.

Take my advice and don’t rush to the Ghosts I-IV website just yet. The site is experience lots of bandwidth issues trying to serve up files.

Digital freedom of choice trend?

Last October Radiohead announced it would release its latest album, In Rainbows via digital download. In an interesting twist was Radiohead didn’t set a price on the album download and only asked that fans pay for it what they think it’s worth. This direct-to-fan bypass of the labels and iTunes was unprecedented for a band of Radiohead’s popularity.

It could be a legitimate trend as many of these recording artists join the digital download freedom of choice bandwagon.