NIN Brings In $1.6 Million In First Week With Creative Commons

Last week, I mentioned Nine Inch Nails' release of Ghosts I-IV, a free, Creative Commons licensed, DRM-free new album.

Did releasing the album for free actually work as a business proposition?

Absolutely. Trent Reznor has announced that Ghosts I-IV has gathered over $1.6 million in sales and donations during its first week online.

Not only is this a triumph for Creative Commons, but a clear message to the music industry that treating your audience like people instead of criminals works.

Trent Reznor also announced on a new crowd-sourced video project, where he asks users to submit their own videos inspired by tracks from the album to be showcased on YouTube and perhaps an official NIN event:

Today we announce the expansion of the Ghosts project into the visual world. This record began as an experiment with us using sound as a means to describe visuals. Early in the project we thought it would be interesting to see what the community could create / collaborate on as a reaction to the music we were making. We wanted to keep the canvas as blank as possible for you, hence the lack of descriptive song titles and the primarily textural artwork and packaging.

So here's the plan: we've teamed up with YouTube to host a "film festival" around Ghosts. The concept is for you to take whatever tracks you feel inspired by from Ghosts and create what you feel should accompany them visually. You will be able to see all of the submissions, and a team of us (including me) will be sorting through them and setting aside ones we feel are exceptional. Eventually (within a couple of months?) we will present a virtual "film festival" with me and some special guests presenting selections of your work.

This isn't a contest and you don't win elaborate prizes - it's meant to be an experiment in collaboration and a chance for us to interact beyond the typical one-way artist-to-fan relationship. We've discussed some interesting ways this could go, including multiple installments of the online "film festivals," to broadcast TV specials, to a one-time live performance of the entire Ghosts record with your visuals involved. It really depends on how this progresses and develops.

If you'd like to show off your video chops, take a look at NIN's official YouTube page for information on how to participate.

Again, I hope the music industry takes notice that this is the way to go in the digital age.

Reznor's one-week take for 'Ghosts': $1.6 million [The Chicago Tribune]
[via: Digg]