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Posted in hiphop | industry | music on January 7, 2008
Trent Reznor enlightens us, Niggy Tardust sales
DOWNLOAD: Saul Williams - Sunday Bloody Sunday (MP3)
Trent Reznor published a letter on NIN.com with the results of giving people the choice to pay for Saul Williams' new record "The Inevitable Rise And Liberation of Niggy Tardust". He seems disappointed in the lack of people that paid for it, but he forgot four things (that I can think of).
- He says to "Keep in mind not one cent was spent on marketing this record." I can't prove him wrong, but I can prove I received a few Saul Williams press releases in my inbox. One of them led me to the MP3 linked at the top of this post.
- As Idolator also pointed out, his statement that "people knowing about this project must either be primarily Saul or NIN fans, as there was very little media coverage outside our direct influence", is totally wrong. Not only were press releases sent out (see #1), the release seemed to get a decent amount of post-In Rainbows press. (on the Internet at least)
- He compares the number of people that downloaded it with the number of people that paid for it. Fine, but you could also theorize that most of the people that didn't pay, only downloaded it BECAUSE it was free - out of curiosity, or for whatever reason (probably the ones who are part of the NIN fanbase).
- He also doesn't take into account at all, that maybe people just didn't like the album. Would album sales be as low if Pitchfork gave it a 9.9? Probably not.
It's a strange time to be an artist in the recording business. It's pretty easy to see what NOT to do these days, but less obvious to know what's right. As I find myself free from the bloated bureaucracy of major labels, finally able to do whatever I want... well, what is that? What is the "right" way to release records, treat your music and your audience with respect and attempt to make a living as well? I have a number of musician friends who are either in a similar situation or feel they soon will be, and it's a real source of anxiety and uncertainty.
I'd like to share my experience releasing Saul Williams' "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust" and what I've learned from the process. Perhaps by revealing of all our data - our "dirty laundry" - we can contribute to a better solution.A quick history: Saul makes a great record that I produce. We can't find the right home at a major label. We decide to release it ourselves, digitally. Saul does not have limitless financial resources so we shop around for a company that can fulfill our needs. We choose Musicane because they are competent and are willing to adapt to what we want. The results are here: niggytardust.com
We offer the entire record free (as in totally free to the visitor - we pay bandwidth costs) as 192 MP3s, or for $5 you can choose higher fidelity versions and feel good about supporting the artist directly. We offer all major CCs and PayPal as payment options.
Here's what I was thinking: Fans are interested in music as soon as it's available (that's a good thing, remember) and usually that's a leak from the label's manufacturing plants. Offering the record digitally as its first appearance in the marketplace eliminates that problem. I thought if you offered the whole record free at reasonable quality - no strings attached - and offered a hassle free way to show support that clearly goes straight to the artists who made it at an unquestionably low price people would "do the right thing". I know, I know...
Well, now I DO know and you will too.Saul's previous record was released in 2004 and has sold 33,897 copies.
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 FLACKeep in mind not one cent was spent on marketing this record. The only marketing was Saul and myself talking as loudly as we could to anybody that would listen.
If 33,897 people went out and bought Saul's last record 3 years ago (when more people bought CDs) and over 150K - five times as many - sought out this new record, that's great - right?
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.
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
Posted on January 7, 2008 10:54 AM
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Comments (20)
I actually paid $5 for the download. I've only listened to the cd twice though. IMO, it's not as good as Saul Williams' prior releases and if I want to hear NIN, I'll listen to NIN.
On paper, it seemed to be an inspired collaboration. Unfortunately, the end result was neither artist's best work.
Posted by Dan | January 7, 2008 11:32 AM
I didn't like it, I didn't buy it.
But, regarding this; you can't offer it for free and then complain when people take it.
Posted by Alex | January 7, 2008 11:37 AM
i bought it
as well five or six of my friends, who like me,
have been fans since ohm...
i love the record...
i think what trent is forgetting to take into account
is how much having the physical cd on shelves makes a difference in how many people buy it...
as well as how many motherfuckers didnt even know about niggy tardust...
while many of us net heads knew, there were and are alot of people out there that dont pay attention to myspace and the net in general...
and i know for sure if some of those folks would have by chance stopped by virgin mega to take a piss or buy ten dollar xmas gift and saw niggy on the shelf they may have bought it...
you know what im saying??
this model for a release is still an infant, so there will have to be some trial and error
i will bet anything, that once he starts touring his sales should go up...
imho
m
Posted by fuckwebsterhall | January 7, 2008 11:57 AM
True.
Posted by Anonymous | January 7, 2008 1:38 PM
I went to school with Saul from elementary through high school, so I felt I was excluded from having to pay for it. That said, I did download it for free, but have yet to unzip the file or listen to it. I'm a dick.
Posted by Jimbo | January 7, 2008 2:28 PM
Hey BV, I saved and played the mp3 for download and its Saul's cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", or did he re-title it "Niggy Tardust"?
Posted by b.LOUD | January 7, 2008 5:13 PM
Saul's cover is titled "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Posted by Anonymous | January 7, 2008 6:21 PM
Two words: "Shit Sandwich"
Posted by greg | January 7, 2008 8:14 PM
updating MP3 name. thanks!
Posted by brooklynvegan | January 8, 2008 2:54 PM
the very idea of "pay what you want" is just RETARDED
if you had the choice to just take a car for free, or pay for it, would you pay or just take it for free???
how about if it wasn't a car, but an apple?
what if it was an insurance premium???
answer's always the fuckin same. if there's no bad consequences and no moral issues presented against taking w/o paying (occasionally referred to as stealing), then of course ppl are not gonna pay up
Posted by su | January 10, 2008 4:10 PM
I downloaded the album for free. Im not a NIN fan or a Saul fan but I was curious about the record. I don't like it very much and rarely listen to the songs. If I paid for it I'd be dissapointed. If I loved it, I would have sought out a disc and paid $16 or so for it, to have physical artwork and a lyric sheet.
Here's an unanswerable question - how many people copied/burned/downloaded Saul's earlier albums without paying for them? How different is this than before? Seems they sold about the same.
Posted by Elroy | January 11, 2008 4:42 AM
As soon as I heard about it I was excited. I was extremely pissed that I wouldn't be able to purchase a physical cd. However, I got over it. Bear in mind that I just copped an iPod in May 2007. Anyway.... Back to Saul. Saul Williams is Saul Williams and sometimes I expect him to spit rhymes like on his first album when at first I don't hear that I tune out. When I realize who I'm listening to I learn to appreciate it more & more. I have to say that I listened to Niggy 3 times & I'm starting to love it. "Black History Month", "Tr(n)igger", "Break", "NiggyTardust" and even "Convict Colony". I appreciate the info on the sales because I want to try to release my second album digitally first. I don't think these #'s are bad considering that the album just came out. P.S. I paid the $5.00 straight up I think it is MORE THAN WORTH IT.
Posted by Absolute Allah | January 21, 2008 8:33 AM
thanks
Posted by para kazan | December 20, 2008 1:04 PM
That's awesome info i see on this page and As soon as I heard about it I was excited to get one cd.
Posted by Real Exam | March 7, 2009 12:52 AM
As there are two aspects of his personality i.e. business and welfare work for the people like he funded scholarship for the students at Brown University, Long Island University, Syracuse University as well as Cornell University too.
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Thanks for the info. I found it really useful.
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