Nine Inch Nails (of Rock Band Fame) Releases Free Album on BitTorrent

Just kidding. But only about the Rock Band part.

The same band that was featured in last week’s Rock Band downloadable content release has announced that it’s releasing a new album via BitTorrent, free of charge. Nine Inch Nails is no longer tied to any record label, so they’re doing as they see fit – and what they see fit is “to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them,” as the news release puts it.

They’re encouraging everyone to download the album and use it for their podcasts, video projects; whatever. It’s one of four albums they recorded last year. And while they do say that the other three albums will inevitably be available on the same Torrent sites they’re releasing this new album on, the complete four album collection will be available for just $5. And it’s DRM-free. It’ll also be available in CD format or in a deluxe package that will have multitrack audio files, high def audio on Blu-ray, and a hard-bound book.

This is really incredible. That’s the only way I can think to describe it. Major props to the NIN guys for having the brass to actually do such a radical thing.

I think I might just buy that Rock Band DLC – not to mention the album – after all.

Check after the break for the full news brief. The official Ghosts site can be found here.

via Evil Avatar

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I (2008)

Hello from Nine Inch Nails.

We’re very proud to present a new collection of instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV. Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.

We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. It’s licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.

We’ve also made a 40 page PDF book to accompany the album. If you’d like to download it for free, visit http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf

Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Undoubtedly you’ll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file, but if you’re interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com, where the complete Ghosts I-IV is available directly from us in a variety of DRM-free digital formats, including FLAC lossless, for only $5. You can also order it on CD, or as a deluxe package with multitrack audio files, high definition audio on Blu-ray disc, and a large hard-bound book.

We genuinely appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy the new music. Thanks for listening.