[url “http://www.nin.com/”]http://www.nin.com/
“This is the most involved I’ve been with any project outside NIN since Antichrist Superstar, and I’ve been impatiently waiting for the chance for you to hear it.”
that’s gonna be an awesome album
I’ve never heard that guy’s work before, but i’ll give it a go probably. Trent’s got a good idea on where and how to go with it. Thing is, if you a smaller band and wanted to try this, it would be almost impossible. One of the reasons i’d even check that album out is because Trent did the music and produced it. I had never even heard of that guy until before 2005 when Trent was raving about him. But either way, it’s a good idea, and a step in a better direction imo.
anyone pre-order the Saul Williams album? i couldn’t resist after seeing some of his stuff up on youtube. the idea of someone promoting their music this way is awesome… it won’t hurt him to have Trent Reznor backing him, but i wonder how other unknowns would do this way without celebrity backing. i think it will be a positive thing for a lot of bands trying to get publicity. people will get a taste of the music, and if they like it, they won’t hesitate to pay for more. i am liking this idea. i’ve bought so many crap albums by unknown bands on word of mouth of friends before i’d actually heard anything by an artist and felt like i’d been totally robbed. when you don’t have much money to put into a music collection, that sucks. i’m looking forward to seeing how this fares with both established artists and up and coming.
I’m a musician and think it’s a great idea, but at the same time a little guy like me would consider “who would take the time, and who would actually pay for it?”. It’s worth a try and I surely wouldn’t want to go through the labels. But it’s definately a good idea, but it really seems as though you have to be established first before taking on any kind of feat. Trent can do this no problems, he has the money and over a decade of credibility. Saul has toured with NIN and seems to be known well within the underground circles, and plus Trent’s name is on it, so that’s a plus. But there’s going to be many people out there who want to try and make it on their own who don’t have that backing. But on paper, it’s ideal. But is it truly realistic?
yeah trent became so cool (and sober) all of a sudden. he’s still a bit of a drama queen though… heh heh . but releasing the multitracks for some of the songs (spawning hundreds of fan remixes), allowing online stream of year zero for a whole week on the official site before cd hit the shelves, now all this independent stuff… very interesting.
i’m waiting for year zero II and something like a greatest hits package from the label where some with teeth outtakes may or may not surface.
about Trent’s sobriety…
funny how getting off drugs has suddenly enlightened him to the plight of dogs in China, etc. i saw the PETA video he did, and suddenly thought of Ogre. i guess if drugs aren’t the driving force for your angst in music, the inspiration needs to come from somewhere, or someone.
i’m really hating to say this, but a lof of artists turn SUCK when they clean up. [:/] you don’t get quite the intensity in the music and lyrics that was once there once they have the monkey off their backs.
well, it’s true!!
but i’m glad to see so many of them go sober.
I pre-ordered it. Good idea and I’m excited to hear the album, Trent on production again should be interesting.
I’ll be pre-ordering it. Saul Williams is a talented rapper, Trent’s a talented musician. I’m looking forward to it.
I’m six weeks sober today…too bad I’m not a musician.
Are they sharing some of the tunes online, or what? I’d love to hear Saul’s work with Trent - Amethyst Rock Star was bad-ass enough without his input, so I’m definitely intrigued. Oh, and I’m staunchly anti-rap, so that’s a pretty big consolation from me.
but i wonder how other unknowns would do this way without celebrity backing.
Unknown??? Maybe to you and other NIN and metalhead fans. Have a look what this man has done in his career and you’ll discover he is far from unknown…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Williams
By the way his music is much better than anything Trent has ever done without a doubt.
You misinterpreted my question there. Saul isn’t exactly a household name, but that wasn’t really my question either. It was more “saul’s doing it and will do pretty well because he’s got trent’s name on it. If a complete a total nobody went, recorded an album and released it that way, how could that all turn out? With no affiliations, whatsoever.”. I have read up on saul and he does have some cred, which I had said before. But I was mainly referring to the the actual nobodies who would try a strategy like this.
It’s true that no-name musicians are going to have a harder time getting noticed with this type of strategy. Who wants to download music from somebody they’ve never heard of…
Then again who wants to buy a CD from somebody they’ve never heard of?
I guess just push the hell out of it. I’d probably give away a couple of free songs as samples. Full songs and they can do whatever they want with them. And if they like it, they can buy it for 5, maybe cheaper. Only difference from a nobody and people like trent and saul, they’re going to have to bust ass and try to get some attention. Maybe myspace and stuff like that. I’ll probably give it a try if I finish anything.
Most people who find that $4 or $5 is a fair price, but $20 isn’t.
$5 for FLAC - very impressive (obviously only artists supported by major backing can do this). I pre-ordered.
Besides, the Alan Moulder/Trent Reznor duo has been decent to us before 
[reply] but i wonder how other unknowns would do this way without celebrity backing.
Unknown??? Maybe to you and other NIN and metalhead fans. Have a look what this man has done in his career and you’ll discover he is far from unknown…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Williams
By the way his music is much better than anything Trent has ever done without a doubt.[/reply]
nah, i knew who he was (wasn’t a huge fan, just knew of himf or a while now). he’s just not quite as well known yet as others in his ‘arena’ - i’m afraid i’ll drag this into a long winded discussion (one-sided) if i get into how i feel about ‘underground’ bands being backed and promoted by more mainstream bands.
i absolutely believe that anyone promoting their music this way will benefit. nobodies, marginals and ‘underground’ bands will definitely find a greater fan base, which will go on to support them in a financial way at some point or another. i’m grabbing his stuff for free, and will likely encourage others to listen to him. and when he releases another album, collaborating with someone big or not, i will definitely jump right on it.
as for well-known bands doing this - what a great way to reward fans AND find a new fan base, at the same time. i think it’s a smart business move.
It’s true that no-name musicians are going to have a harder time getting noticed with this type of strategy. Who wants to download music from somebody they’ve never heard of…
Then again who wants to buy a CD from somebody they’ve never heard of?
i know plenty of people, including myself, that will grab all kinds of free music on line when they see it, or when someone points the way. many people i know scour the internet for new bands and music this way. it’s all about word of mouth and advertising, too… myspace pages, etc. i’ve found a lot of good music through bands promoting themselves on personal profile websites like myspace. and i’ve literally waited and waited for some of them to actually release an album so that i could run out and buy it, just from hearing samples they put up. if bands agressively promoted themselves like this as they were just getting started, they’d find themselves doing well quickly. the internet is a great place for all kinds of musicians and artists to, um, expose themselves!
No, I agree. I like free music too. My point was that while people can say that no-name musicians won’t benefit from this type of distribution, the truth is they really don’t benefit from traditional distribution.
I’ll be downloading the album, and if I like it i’ll pay the 5, no problem. I’ve always supported my favorite bands. Supported ministry up until cocked and loaded, manson until 2003, still buying kmfdm and nin. So by no means do I consider myself a pirate. I just bought the lifeline ep by jesu last night for chrissakes!