Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV

It should come as no shock that experts have predicted that the music industry as we know it is doomed. But what will take its place? One possible replacement is music that you purchase and download directly from the artist. For example, multi-platinum English alternative rock band Radiohead recently released their seventh album, "In Rainbows," not on compact disc but rather as a DRM-free digital download. Two things made "In Rainbows" unique.  First, the album was released without a record contract.  [Radiohead left record label EMI in the early 2000s.] Second, Radiohead employed a "pay what you want" system.  If you didn't feel like paying anything for the album, all you had to do was pay a 45 pence [approximately 90 cents] credit card transaction fee.

American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails is following Radiohead's lead. The band's latest album, a 36 track instrumental collection titled "Ghosts I-IV," was released online last Tuesday. The first nine tracks are available for download as free, as high-quality, DRM-free MP3's at http://ghosts.nin.com/. You can purchase and download all 36 tracks for five dollars, and for $10 you can get Ghosts I-IV shipped to you on a two CD set. The CD is not yet available in stores.

Even if you are not a fan of Nine Inch Nails, take a moment to review the Ghosts I-IV website or the  media player below.  I think that what we're looking at here is nothing short of the future of music distribution. In the not too distant future, you will purchase your "corporate" music--e.g., Metallica, Usher, anyone from American Idol--from an iTunes-like online store and your "independent" music--e.g., Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails--directly from the artists.