Trent Reznor explores the Radiohead model “Pay What You Want” with side project…
Posted October 25, 2007 — in Music News
Trent Reznor announced today that he’d be distributing an album by Saul Williams, an outside project via the Internet. Trent says, ‘One thing that IS very different in our situation is that Saul’s not the household name (yet!) that Radiohead is, and that means we need your support on this more than ever. If you like what you hear, spread the word.’
The model is similar to Radiohead, ‘Pay What You Want’.
If you choose to pay for the record, your download will be available in the following formats:
192Kbps MP3
320Kbps MP3
FLAC lossless audio
If you choose not to pay for the record, you will receive it in 192Kbps MP3 format.
All versions include a PDF with artwork and lyrics, and all files are 100% DRM free, and can be played on any device. MP3s are encoded with LAME v3.97 and love.
The Bottom Line: Rather than setting up the record through a middleman, Trent decided to sell the record directly to consumers. Trent is right in the fact that Saul is not a household name and support is needed. Would a middleman be more effective in spreading the word for a lesser known artist and contributing to the bottom line? Time will tell….
Well…. ahhh… Trent Reznor becomes the defacto middleman here, no?
Would Saul Williams be able to generate any revenue on his own? Not knocking him for trying, just saying this isn’t exactly the total opposite of the Radiohead story.
Comment by Daniel Holter — October 25, 2007 @ 8:47 am
Lame encoding… it’s about time.
Trent has to be the only person in the entirely music industry who is aware of the common compression standards. I would love to say that it’s a real inspiration that he’s this in touch with his fans, but this kind of stuff should be common sense.
Comment by Jon Cole — October 25, 2007 @ 8:52 am
Let’s see how this pans out.
I’m not really into the music, though.
Comment by Tim Towner — October 25, 2007 @ 9:28 am
I paid the $5
I like Saul. I love Trent. I’ll spent the cash for them.
Comment by Dave — October 25, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
I love Saul (as evident by the handle), and Trent as well. Not sure why this article was painted and slanted to being Trent’s ’side project’.. Saul was for a long time been standing on his own two feet as a musician, poet, author, etc., etc., etc. Just because Trent is a producer and a big friend and fan of Saul, this isn’t his side project.
Saul’s last album has Soundscanned about 32k. It’s a solid release, even includes an appearance from Zach of RATM. He may not be a superstar, but he can generate revenue on his own, is signed to the FADER label (Editors), and has made a name for himself without riding coattails.
I paid the $5 as well.
Comment by List OfDemands — October 26, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Hey, everyone’s going to start building their own cars!
There are going to be 100,000 New brands of Cars next year!
Isn’t that exciting!!
Gee, I hope some of them know what their doing!!!
You know especially with Braking systems!!
lol!
Comment by Michael Barile — October 29, 2007 @ 7:12 am
Radiohead sold 700,000 hard copies of the new album! wowzer.
Comment by Alterhit* — October 29, 2007 @ 10:42 am
Hey Michael. I don’t know if you know this or not, but the internet happened.
Comment by Jon Cole — October 29, 2007 @ 9:37 pm