Following in the footsteps of Radiohead, the free downloads have sparked a buying frenzy of new material for sale.
Can free music work? It certainly has for Trent Reznor, the man behind
Nine Inch Nails. He offered his new album, Ghosts I-IV, in a number of configurations ranging from free to a $300 ultra-deluxe, autographed, limited edition – and all 2,500 copies of that sold out in just three days, crashing his site’s servers, and bring him in $750,000, according to
Information Week.
Reznor had 36 tracks in total. Fans could download the first nine for free, with other packages including a $5 download, a $10 download including physical CDs, along with other packages.
There was also the option of purchasing a license allowing the user to copy and distribute the album.
Last year
Radiohead famously let fans download its latest album, In Rainbows, and pay what they believed it was worth. No definitive figures have been given on how many downloads were made or how much people paid, but
comScore reckoned it achieved an average of $6 per download, with 63% of people not paying at all. The download version was discontinued when sales of the physical CD began.
Artists in other genres have offered albums for free download, too, such as classical violinist
Tasmin Little.
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