One of the many reasons I love Nine Inch Nails....

I'm following Nine Inch Nails on SoundCloud. I have all of NIN's albums except for Ghosts I-IV (which is funny because you could once download the whole thing for $5 from the NIN website) and The Slip. What I love about Nine Inch Nails on SoundCloud is that you can listen to a huge amount of their work for free. They have 97 sounds posted, including some sets that are over two hours long, and I can just stream this stuff whenever I want! For free! That's astounding for such a big name act.

Now I know that Trent Reznor is well know for his hatred of the major record labels' propensity for ripping off artists and fans alike. He's told fans to not buy NIN's albums, but to download them instead, "Because one way or another these mother f---ers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that's not right." (Moses, 2007).

NIN also released Ghosts I-IV independently and made Ghosts I (nine tracks in total) available as a free download on the NIN website. You could pay $5 to download Ghosts I-IV or $10 if you wanted the two CD box-set. You could also pay more for deluxe, limited edition, fancy pants extras (the ultra deluxe limited edition package going for $300 sold out within 30 hours (Grasmayer, 2008)).

I love that Nine Inch Nails have made their music so accessible to fans everywhere and I love what they stand for. If you're not that familiar with them, you can listen to a whole lot of their stuff for free. If you're a hardcore fan, you can pay money for cool, limited edition booty. They give their fans a whole lot of options, which is good for us, but it's also smart marketing. It's not greedy and it's not exploitative, it's fair and it shows respect for the fans.

Now you could argue that it's easy for them to work to this model because they are already so popular and have enough of a hardcore fan base that are happy to pay to keep them working. That may not be the case for smaller artists who are still trying to make a name for themselves and I get that. Having said that, Trent Reznor has some advice for us little guys along those lines.

Nine Inch Nails and other big name artists like Radiohead can defy the rules of the traditional music industry to the benefit of, not only themselves, but fans as well, and they have. And that's awesome.

While researching for this blog post, I came across Bas Grasmayer's paper, 'best practices of the online promotion of new musical content: 5 product launch case studies'. It made for an informative read and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in music distribution.

Ten songs that are significant to me

Let's Go Crazy - Prince - Purple Rain (1984):  My favourite track from the first CD I ever owned. I think I was nine. I used to dance around the lounge room singing into my hairbrush and pretending I was Prince. No way I could ever be that funky.

Drain You - Nirvana - Nevermind (1991): It was 1993 and I was 13 when I first heard Nevermind. 'Drain You' was my favourite song. It touched me in ways I can't describe and opened my eyes to a world of music that wasn't pop. I became completely obsessed with music and grunge in particular. I fell in love with Sonic Youth. It was the first time in my life that I realised music was a huge part of who I was and who I would grow up to become.

Wish - Nine Inch Nails - Broken (1992): I felt so strongly about this song when I was 16. I would turn it up loud and scream along to the lyrics in my bedroom. I felt so lonely and misunderstood. I wondered if maybe Trent Reznor did too.

Kiss Off - Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (1982): When I was 16, at school one Friday a few of my friends and I organised to meet in the park that night for an impromptu party. Word spread and I was surprised to find 20 or 30 kids showed up. Some of them were kids that wouldn't even look at me twice at school. But here they were. I decided not to let that bother me in the interest of having a good time. We had no music, so at one point we all joined in for a sing along of Kiss Off by the Violent Femmes. We belted it out with so much enthusiasm and feeling that I was blown away by the experience. I had no idea that most of those kids even knew that song, let alone that they seemed to identify with it as strongly as I did. It was a rare moment of solidarity for a bunch of disaffected teenagers. And one of my only fond memories of high school.

Groove is In the Heart - Deee-Lite - World Clique (1990): This is my ultimate good time song. In my early 20s I would spend every Friday night at a Melbourne Goth club called Abyss. This song would get played every week and no matter where I was or what I was doing, I would meet my friends on the dance floor for a collective boogie within the first 30 seconds. Even now when I hear it, wherever I am, I have no choice but to succumb to the groove. I guess it's true what they say; Groove is in the heart.

My Red Hot Car - Squarepusher - Go Plastic (2001): This is the song that made me realise that electronic music didn't have to be just the soundtrack for a rave or some club. I love this song. Like Nirvana's 'Drain You' it completely changed the way I think about music and was the catalyst for Twinkle Noodle Star.

Ten Storey Love Song - The Stone Roses - Second Coming (1994): My husband and I share a mutual love of this song. And each other.

I Would For You - Jane's Addiction - Jane's Addiction (1987): This song was played at my wedding. Some people might think that it's an odd choice for a wedding song due to the politically charged nature of the lyrics, but I think it's beautiful.

Thank You - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II (1969): The other song played at my wedding. My husband chose this song and it melts my heart whenever I hear it.

Cecilia - Simon and Garfunkle - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970): I used to sing this to my daughter when she was a baby whenever she was upset or I was trying to get her to sleep. It's an incredibly catchy tune and enjoyable to sing. She was crying one day and I started singing it in and effort to settle her. It worked, mainly I think because of the 'Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh' part. After that it became a staple.