What’s so disheartening, Trent Reznor?
p2pnet news | Music:- “The deal was that you could get a medium-quality 192k MP3 version of the album (’The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust”‘) for free or pay $5 for a higher-quality version.”
That was, and is, courtesy of Nine-Inch-Nail’s Trent Reznor who got behind Saul Williams to pay for, produce and promote the album online.
And it’s, “pretty good,” posts a p2pnet reader.
“Space rock fused with rap and niggyness.”
Some 18.3% of the people who downloaded the album actually paid for it on faith, so to speak, and. “I’m not sure what I was expecting but that percentage – primarily from fans – seems disheartening,” says Reznor on the NIN blog.
“18% paid, hmmm,” says db in another p2pnet Reader’s Write to the same story, going on, “I have never heard Saul`s music before.
“I would prefer to use the $0 download to listen to the music, if I liked it I would then use the $5 option to buy it. I wonder how many others did this?”
The quote in the intro comes from Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson on The Long Tail, who goes on:
Reznor says he’s “disheartened” that a bit less than 20% of the 154,449 who have downloaded the album since it was released a few weeks ago paid the $5.
So let’s do the math: 28,322 people times $5 = $141,610
In the same issue of Wired where we interviewed Reznor about this experiment, David Byrne ran the numbers on traditional music publishing. He reports that for a $16 CD, the artists should expect to get $1.60. Reznor notes that Williams’ previous record was released in 2004 and has sold 33,897 copies. So for that previous album, Williams personally made $54,235.
But in the direct download model, which bypasses label distribution, the artist can keep everything, as Radiohead did. I don’t know how Reznor and Williams are splitting the money, but between them they made $142,000 this time, some two-and-a-half times more than Williams did last time.
What’s so disheartening about that?
Meanwhile, I downloaded it too and it IS pretty good. $5’s worth in anyone’s money.
And no RIAA hood leering down your neck
You like notes and art? Check out the .pdf that comes with it. Pretty good too, IMHO.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
Also see:
got behind Saul Williams – Niggy Tardust – breaking the chains, January 5, 2008
NIN blog – Saul follow-up and facts, January 3, 2008
The Long Tail – How not to do a FREE calculation, Trent Reznor edition, January 3, 2008
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January 7th, 2008 at 7:57 am
i just really hope this doesn’t dishearten trent too much, i like having him on our side
January 7th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Sorry Trent.
I was so busy with work the last few weeks that I never even heard that it was released.
Actualy I never even seen any advertising on it.
Going to download it now, and just to stick it up the RIAA’s ass, I will pay the $5.00.
Who needs a stratched up CD version of it when you can go digital and save the world from some nasty green house gasses.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:40 am
How about selling a CD through someplace like CDBaby, and offering $5.00 off to anyone who bought the digital version? I’m not sure how to verify those who paid for the digital version, but I’m sure it could be done.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I just cut and pasted my comment at boycott-RIAA, forgive my laziness.
” Reznor goes on to state that he is conflicted about the numbers; while he was disheartened that so few chose to pay, he is also excited that more people are hearing Williamsâ music. ”
ok,
Can’t say that I heard any of this but ..
Is it POSSIBLE, by some stretch of the
imagination, that people simply did not
like the music ?
Many downloaded for free, yes, but they
go to try, thought it sucked, and didn’t
buy.
I personally am not a big NiN fan, so I
probably would have DL free first.
The thought that ” well I made this, so I
automatically am entitled to make a mint” is
part of the problem.
If this had been a fantastic album i.e
Breakfast In America
Boston 1
Bad Motorfinger
( opinions entirely subjective )
I’ll bet the purchase support would have
been through the roof.
January 7th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Stole this comment from GDZ over at boycott-riaa
“Remember back a few years when one of the mantras was something like, “the major cost of releasing an album is the marketing and promotion.”
Reznor claims, ânot one cent was spent on marketing this record.â
And he still sold 28,000 copies, got into 154,000 sets of ears and pulled in about $140,000 in two months.
How many people in the band? Five or six? And give Trent a share, too. $10 grand a month each.
I could live on that. “
January 7th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I’m a poor motherfucker, so I didn’t buy it.