On the heals of an arguably successful "pay what you want" music download campaign by Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails is leveraging BitTorrent sites and releasing songs under a Creative Commons license that permits purchasers to remix the tracks, according to a recent Wired article. The bands latest offering is Ghosts I-IV, contains 36 songs and split into four volumes. The first volume was uploaded to Pirate Bay by band leader Trent Reznor (and/or his representatives) where it can be downloaded for free. The entire 36-song version can be purchased digitally in MP3 format for $5 from Amazon MP3 or the Nine Inch Nails website, NIN.com. The move is possible because the band is no longer tied to a label and it has allowed them to get creative with how they sell and market their music. Besides the $5 downloads NIN are offering other packages such as a now sold out $300 "ultra-deluxe" limited-edition package (2,500 copies) that included four 180-gram records each numbered and signed by Reznor. Just wait until other contracts start to expire, it's probably not a good time to be holding shares in record labels.
