I used to buy a decent amount of music. But then the RIAA cracked down on internet radio, Clear Channel bought up all the radio stations, and I stopped being exposed to new music. In the past few years, any time I heard anything new, I already had the full cd, which means I had no reason to go buy anything. Plus, cd’s started to cost around $15. Barely worth it for an hour of entertainment, definitely not if there’s only a few good songs. However, Nine Inch Nails released their new album and made the first quarter available for free. They even put it up on bit-torrent. I listened to the first set, decided I liked it. Normally it would go no further than that. But this time I decided to buy it. The clincher was the text they attached to the bittorrent upload:
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.I like the fact that they aren’t labeling their fans criminals and threaten to sue them. I like that they respect that their fans want to listen to their music. That’s all the encouragement they need for me to send money their way.
