This week Trent Reznor took a big step forward in music distribution by releasing the latest Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I - IV online. It’s like when I wrote back in January about what the next revolution in music could be:

Could it be that the artists who are rejecting the current model of record contracts and DRM fervor of the labels and RIAA be leading the way? There are several independent artists who are embracing current technology and getting their music out to a much wider audience thanks to the internet. Many others are using Creative Commons to shun the current model and get their music into fan’s hands

NIN has done all of that and made available the first 9 tracks, Ghosts I, as a FREE download. Perfect for those who want to sample before buying. And for those who want all 36 tracks, the DRM free download is only $5, or $10 for those who need something physical to add to their CD collection. He’s even released it under a Creative Commons license.

The response was huge; slowing, and for a short time, bringing the servers completely down. As many people became frustrated, they turned to BitTorrent sites to find the music. You’d not be surprised to find out the album was there, but you might be when you find out who put it up.

Hello from Nine Inch Nails.

Now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.

We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. It’s licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.

Trent really understands technology and the best way to get his music out to his fans. And before someone claims the above torrent wasn’t uploaded by NIN, there has been confirmation by TorrentFreak:

“last night our website had to go down for maintenance for a little while due to the incredible amount of traffic and downloads, and we linked directly to our Pirate Bay torrent as a way for people to get the music while we were offline.” Rob Sheridan, Art Director for NIN told TorrentFreak, adding “I noticed our official torrent of Ghosts I was in the top 10 of all torrents on The Pirate Bay last night.”

As of yesterday, when I pulled down my copy of Ghosts I off BitTorrent, there were over 3200 people seeding the file, with another couple of hundred downloading. And that was only from one site.

I’m hoping this, along with Radiohead’s In Rainbows pay what you’d like online release, will show artists that the digital-Creative Commons-release without record labels is a viable and better option for fans. The artists will see more money, the fans won’t feel ripped off, and so many more people will be able to enjoy the music.

Technorati tags: nine inch nails, music, bittorrent, digital music revolution