Trent Thinks Mrs. Hops Is Hot

This weekend Mrs. Hops got to see Nine Inch Nails again after a long (very long if you ask Mrs. Hops) hiatus. I don't know what came over him, maybe it was the clean Philly air, but Trent Reznor decided to speak to the crowd more than usual. In one speech he called Mrs. Hops hot. See for yourself here:



A longer version can be found here

For Free?

Yes... for free. In addition to getting a free monthly Hopscast thanks to All You Need Is Hops I have worked some connections and convinced Trent Reznor to go ahead and give you the new Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip, for free as well. Just go to NIN.com to download.

And because we're on the topic of The Slip and free music here is the free Daytrotter session of the band, The Slip. They do a nice cover of "Baba O' Reilly".

Trent vs. Thom

It looks like Wired Magazine has taken my two favorite topics these days: Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and did a "head to head" comparison between Trent and Thom. Here are the results.

Trent destroys Thom in most categories including History of innovation, Digital formats, Breaking with the industry,Punk-rock factor, Remixing policy and Smack talk

Thom whoops Trent in Timing, Substance (Mrs. Hops is angry!) and Fan-made music videos.

It's a dead heat in terms of Initial revenue.

Perhaps they will be able to throw down for real at Lollapalooza. Thom would get crushed though, seriously crushed. I bet he wouldn't be fun to fight - but he's more of a Chihuahua where Trent is more of a German Shepherd. I think Thom would give up faster than Hops in a NIN pit!

21st Century Classical Music

On Sunday Trent Reznor decided to post on the Nine Inch Nails website that their new album Ghosts I-IV was available. Much of the press given about this release has been focusing on the fact that it was only released digitally, that there was no record company involved and that there was no other announcement (other than a teaser on the website for fans). Check out an article in MSNBC here. These are all significnat things and a sign of where the musci business is today. However, for some reason people are looking past the fact that they release a 36 track album of electronic instrumentals music. No human voices, not robot voices, no lyrics! Certainly they aren't the first band to release an instrumental album nor are they the first to release an album of electronic instrumental music (Beastie Boys, Techno music). But I was pretty amazed by the excitement from the fans and motivation from Trent to do this.

You can buy the entire thing for $5 at the website here. You can also download the first disc for free there as well and just to make your life easier I have zipped the first disc for download here (Ghosts I).

I'm very curious to hear your thoughts. Personally, I like the vibe it creates - really chill. However, I am not sure I really needed 36 tracks worth of this. Without having something to break it up I find it almost impossible not to drift away. Its not a knock on the music individually, it is just that collectively it just sounds like a two hour classical music track. Maybe that is the point? Check it out and decide for yourself. After hearing Ghosts I do you need Ghosts II-IV?

On a side note the artwork included is absolutely brilliant! Download that in a PDF by going here.

I'm All Up In Trent's Business

If you haven’t noticed I have been very interested in the business of music lately. I just think that it’s a really interesting time in the music industry. A lot of external forces are making it difficult to continue to operate record labels in the same way they have in the past. Additionally, musicians have more options than they ever did before. Because of these factors I wonder if this trend of artists and labels making less money will continue or if its just an adjustment period. If I had to vote I would think that it is the former. And guess what? That is a GOOD thing. The best music, and frankly almost all really good music, was created as a form of expression. Its only when your musical choice is dictated by your career ambitions do you start to see the ugly side of popular music and the business culture that surrounds it.

So where is the balance? How can there be a system where artists make money and can still be as creative as they like? How can record companies (and all of the other people who make a living in the business) still generate sizable revenue without turning the music into a commodity? All of these questions are being figured out right now. However, where I’ve struggled is not having any real hard facts to base assumptions on. The article I posted by David Byrne helped a lot. Now, Trent Reznor has chimed in about the recent release of Saul Williams’ new album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, which he produced.

Here is what Trent posted on his website (NIN.com)

As of 1/2/08,
154,449 people chose to download Saul's new record.
28,322 of those people chose to pay $5 for it, meaning:
18.3% chose to pay.

Of those paying,

3220 chose 192kbps MP3
19,764 chose 320kbps MP3
5338 chose FLAC

Needless to say Trent was disappointed:

I have to assume the people knowing about this project must either be primarily Saul or NIN fans, as there was very little media coverage outside our direct influence. If that assumption is correct - that most of the people that chose to download Saul's record came from his or my own fan-base - is it good news that less than one in five feel it was worth $5? I'm not sure what I was expecting but that percentage - primarily from fans - seems disheartening.

So which way is better? I am going to make the following assumptions:

• 100% of the albums he sold in 2004 were via CD’s, not via digital download
• The artist made $1.60 per record (per David Byrne’s notes)
• The cut that his “team” (managers etc.) get is the same either way

So here is the revenue Saul Williams generated based on my assumptions:

So you would think that the digital is the way to go? I wouldn’t agree. I’m sure for Radiohead it makes sense but for Saul and Trent it probably did not make FINANCIAL sense. Even though he made almost 3 times the revenue he had to pay for all the costs associated with the album (I'm assuming the record company paid most of those costs the first time). This is exactly the point Trent Reznor makes:

Add to that: we spent too much (correction, I spent too much) making the record utilizing an A-list team and studio, Musicane fees, an old publishing deal, sample clearance fees, paying to give the record away (bandwidth costs), and nobody's getting rich off this project.

But...
Saul's music is in more peoples' iPods than ever before and people are interested in him. He'll be touring throughout the year and we will continue to get the word out however we can.

So - if you're an artist looking to utilize this method of distribution, make of these figures what you will and hopefully this info is enlightening.

Best,
TR

So what’s the silver lining here? Well people are listening to the album which means he’ll do much better on tour (where artists make their real money) than before. Also, Saul tells Cnet he isn’t disappointed with the results and he’s happy that people are listening to his music (lots of good stuff in that article by the way). In fact, Saul says that its too early to really judge the sales and humorously points out that Trent is just a bit of a gloomy guy in general. Good to see he has a sense of humor.

UPDATE: on the Niggy Tardust order page this was just posted: We have removed the FREE option from our site as it was limited to the first 100,000 customers. For the highest quality download and a 33 page PDF of original album artwork and lyrics, please complete the form below and support The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!

Rain Maker

Can someone to explain to me what this machine is? It looks like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I asked Trent Reznor but he just referred me back to his video:

More on Niggy and Trent

Good interview in Billboard / Yahoo.

Some excepts:

Reznor: "Radiohead is one of my favorite bands, and if I were sitting on a finished Nine Inch Nails record right now, I would do exactly the same thing they're doing. I think that right now, the music industry is between business models. I don't know if this is the wave of the future.

"I'm someone who spends a lot of time online, and I'll admit to having stolen music off the Web before. My main goal is to get my music out to as many people as possible in a way that feels pure and allows me to maintain my integrity." (laughs)

"I just wanted to get the record out. I figure there are other revenue streams, and while I like being compensated for my work, I think it's more important to get it out to the public. It was not my intent to try to start some campaign to destroy record labels -- they're doing a good enough job of it themselves. We're not tainting the experience with ads or corporate tie-ins, and we're letting the songs speak for themselves."

Niggy Tardust

The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust. Best album name ever?

The Trent Reznor produced album by Saul Williams is now available. Similar to Radiohead's In Rainbows you can pay for it...or not pay for it. Its your call. Order here.

Out with the old...

Today the new Radiohead album arrived in my inbox - for the price I was willing to pay for and in a normal unprotected MP3 format. As I had mentioned in a previous post the way they are releasing this album is nothing short of revolutionary. If you look in the comments section of that post Mrs. Hops said "I think this is a move even Trent Reznor would be impressed by :-)" Well apparently Trent does in fact read my blog and decided that it was impressive. Check out what he just posted on NIN.com:

08 October 2007: Big News

Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.

posted by Trent Reznor at 10:45 AM. 1422 Comments

14222 comments! Do you think he is pissed radiohead beat him to the punch?

Bela Lugosi's Dead

Mrs. Hops discovered You Tube and found this video of the performance of Bela Lugosi by Trent Reznor, Peter Murphy and TV On The Radio played on the last episode of All You Need Is Hops. Peter Murphy definitely looks scarier when he's NOT in his onstage Vampire mode. Normal Peter Murphy just comes off as weird.



They also performed Dreams by TV On The Radio off their debut album (Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes) at that show which was just as cool:



You can see they only let a few people in there to see the show. But if you look closely (very closely) you can spot Hops. I think Mrs. Hops is lost in the crowd.