Today marks the day Saul Williams album is released.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails convinced Saul to release the album for free. The album is available for free or for a $5 donation (of which I paid). It also comes in 3 flavors: 192kbps MP3, 320kbps MP3, or FLAC. From the various interviews and blog postings I’ve read, Trent is pretty much certain the old way of doing business is dead. Record labels have alienated the online affect of audiences getting music… which turned them against the record industry. In some cases it alienated the artists as well. Trent effectively dropped himself from his label and said he would rather have his fans steal his music than pay the enormous prices he was surprised to see on this last album, Year Zero.

Between this and the Radiohead recent release, the music distribution scheme of old has disappeared. It’s true. What’s very interesting is no one can be certain on what the outcome will be. What will the new means be? Will ever aspect of music be DIY? The playing field has changed, the power is shifting, emotions are also in play.

Trent mentioned one of the goals of future song releases would be to entice audiences to come to shows and purchase merchandise. I couldn’t agree with this more. It was one of the biggest reasons for me going to shows I’ve been to all year, and continue to go to. I steal music. I will be upfront and honest about that. I steal the money from the record label. I give my money to the artist. When I visited Dozer in Europe, I purchased a few of the albums they were selling and a sweatshirt. They receive all the profit from this, as they purchased it at wholesale from the label or made the merchandise themselves. I am giving back to them, what the label doesn’t. It’s why if I do like a band, I buy the album at the show… not online. I pay for my tickets to the shows, I don’t scalp. I screw the record industry, not the artist.

The artists are ready to screw the labels, too. Best of luck to you Big 4. Your days are officially numbered.

Trent Reznor: Take my music, please

TR of NIN:

I’ll admit I had an account there and frequented it quite often. At the end of the day, what made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world’s greatest record store. Pretty much anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted. If OiNK cost anything, I would certainly have paid, but there isn’t the equivalent of that in the retail space right now. iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don’t feel cool when I go there. I’m tired of seeing John Mayer’s face pop up. I feel like I’m being hustled when I visit there, and I don’t think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc. Amazon has potential, but none of them get around the issue of pre-release leaks. And that’s what’s such a difficult puzzle at the moment. If your favorite band in the world has a leaked record out, do you listen to it or do you not listen to it? People on those boards, they’re grateful for the person that uploaded it — they’re the hero. They’re not stealing it because they’re going to make money off of it; they’re stealing it because they love the band. I’m not saying that I think OiNK is morally correct, but I do know that it existed because it filled a void of what people want.

Source I and Source II

Saul Williams has been creating amazing genre crossing albums on his own for the last years and now he has teamed up with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to release his new album, Niggy Tardust. I’m sure this CD is going to be nothing short of amazing. Cannot wait to hear it. Check out niggytardust.com for all the details. Register now and you can download the record November 1st. [Saul Williams – Niggy Tardust] (site removed)

CD + DVD ROM (WAV Files) Version. Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D ! Nine Inch Nails fantastic 2007 album ‘”Year Zero” NOW Remixed by a selection of artists hand picked by Trent Reznor including The Knife, Ladytron, Stephen Morris of New Order / Joy Division, The Faint, Bill Laswell and more… This CD package includes the CD PLUS an additional DVD ROM (not a movie) of all music parts (as WAV files) ready for use in Garageband, Logic, ProTools etc to allow people to make their own Remixes. Packaged and presented in a 6 panel digipak with an insert. Out Nov, 20 2007.
[NIN – Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D]