Mud Flies Over Radiohead's Online Release of In Rainbows
Mud between Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Reznor, and Radiohead has begun to fly over Internet music distribution. Reznor said the Radiohead's pay-what-you-want online release of In Rainbows was "insincere" and a "gimick." Reznor made the remarks on an Australian Broadcasting Company television show.
Nine Inch Nails recently released Ghosts I-IV, a 36 track instrumental album that was available online in a variety of different options. Five months prior, Radiohead released In Rainbows online with a free distribution model, which accepted donations.
Reznor's problem with the Radiohead release is that it was available encoded at a less-than-hi-fidelity 160kbps. Reznor said Radiohead's online release of IIn Rainbows was comparable to a MySpace-quality audio stream. On the other hand the Ghosts I-IV album is encoded at 320kbps, which is high for a digital track.
Reznor continues to describe the Radiohead release - which is no longer available as the band is relying on traditional sales method - as a shrewed marketing gimmick. He also has a complaint with Radiohead getting all of the credit for the online music distribution model at the same time only making low-quality music available for a requested donation.
To date, Reznor's Ghosts I-IV album has generated $1.6 million from online sales.
What says Radiohead? Stay tuned?
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This is the kind of mud slinging I like. Two bands arguing over who is REALLY giving their music away. Granted both want $ for their work. But it sounds like NIN is getting it. How much $ did In Rainbows' make Radiohead?
Now I wish the Beatles would set their music free on the Net - fat chance. Back catalogs are doomed to rot on iTunes.
I dont see how Trent Reznor making a few criticisms constitutes "mud slinging" especially since Radiohead hasnt responded but I do wish he hadnt said anything because up until now I thought this was a totally cool project.
It is interesting that he accuses Radiohead of a bait and switch when clearly most of the 1.6 million ($ earned so far) is coming from sales of real cds (that dont ship until May) and not downloads. 2500 special collectors editions (sold out) at $300 gets you $750,000.00 right off the bat. What a genius. It's like my father used to say "if you charge enough money you only need to sell one."
That said, I wish they werent sold out and that I had $300.
Trent Reznor Claims he made 1.6 million dollars in the first 7 days, but in actuality, I believe he made over 2 MILLION DOLLARS in the first 24 hours. Take a look at this article for proof:
http://www.qzaki.com/Archive/Nine_Inch_Nails.pdf