Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has posted the download and sales numbers for "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust," the Saul Williams album he produced and helped release.
The album was originally posted on Nov. 1 and offered for free as a lower quality, 192kbps MP3 download, or $5 for a higher fidelity 320kbps MP3 or FLAC version. On NIN.com, Reznor claims, "not one cent was spent on marketing this record," although he and Williams did launch a fairly comprehensive press campaign.
According to Reznor, since Nov. 1, 154,449 people had downloaded the record; of those, 28,322, or 18.3%, chose to pay anything for it. Of those paying, 3220 chose 192kbps MP3, 19,764 chose 320kbps MP3 and 5338 chose FLAC.
"Here's what I was thinking: Fans are interested in music as soon as it's available (that's a good thing, remember) and usually that's a leak from the label's manufacturing plants," he wrote. "Offering the record digitally as its first appearance in the marketplace eliminates that problem. I thought if you offered the whole record free at reasonable quality -- no strings attached -- and offered a hassle free way to show support that clearly goes straight to the artists who made it at an unquestionably low price, people would "do the right thing."
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 Williams' music.
The album was originally posted on Nov. 1 and offered for free as a lower quality, 192kbps MP3 download, or $5 for a higher fidelity 320kbps MP3 or FLAC version. On NIN.com, Reznor claims, "not one cent was spent on marketing this record," although he and Williams did launch a fairly comprehensive press campaign.
According to Reznor, since Nov. 1, 154,449 people had downloaded the record; of those, 28,322, or 18.3%, chose to pay anything for it. Of those paying, 3220 chose 192kbps MP3, 19,764 chose 320kbps MP3 and 5338 chose FLAC.
"Here's what I was thinking: Fans are interested in music as soon as it's available (that's a good thing, remember) and usually that's a leak from the label's manufacturing plants," he wrote. "Offering the record digitally as its first appearance in the marketplace eliminates that problem. I thought if you offered the whole record free at reasonable quality -- no strings attached -- and offered a hassle free way to show support that clearly goes straight to the artists who made it at an unquestionably low price, people would "do the right thing."
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 Williams' music.
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