Wow.

Just two months ago, Nine Inch Nails released "Ghosts I-IV," a collection of amazing instrumental material. For those of you who didn't catch the release, it was released by surprise on their website in various different formats. You could download the first of the 4 volumes for free, download the whole thing for $5, or pay from $10 to $300 for various physical formats. The entire album was licensed with a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share Alike License - meaning you're free to share and remix the music for your own projects, use it in films, etc, as long as you don't charge for the end result and you credit them.

I saw this distribution system as a shining light for the future - a method that I actually approve of. If more albums were released in this way artists would make more money and people buying music would be a whole lot happier.

Today Trent released yet another full album - this time a more classic NIN outing with lyrics and the screaming guitars that we've come to love. The catch this time is that there is no catch - the album is completely free to download in a variety of digital formats including mp3, FLAC, and even high-definition, better than CD WAV audio.

Check it out, you have so little to lose!: http://nin.com

I guess they're planning to release hard copies on CD and vinyl in June too, which is amazing because I also love to actually have my music.

I'm so happy with everything this band is doing. Kudos Trent, for attempting to singlehandedly change the entire music industry. This will catch on, I'm sure of it.