I forget where I first heard about this album release, maybe it was Lawrence Lessig’s blog? I’ve enjoyed Trent Reznor’s, a.k.a. Nine Inch Nails, music since I was in high school. The band’s most recent album is Ghosts I-IV and Firefox has just informed me that my download of the album has completed.
What I love the most about this album is that it is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. Ghosts I is freely distributed at the album website. The entire collection is available for $5, probably just to cover the distribution fees. I bought the fully digital album for a mere $5, the first album that I’ve purchased since I dumped iTunes.
What was heartwarming is that when I went to order my copy, the 2500 copies of the $300 edition have sold out. Playing the Devil’s Advocate, maybe others out there haven’t had to read the CC licenses umpteen times, and maybe it’s just ignorance. I mean, in this day and age when stealing is so easy, wouldn’t people know that this CC license translates to: I, or anyone who has a copy of the music, can now give you a copy of my Ghosts I-IV absolutely free?
Rather, I’d prefer to think that people do understand the license, and they chose to support the people behind Nine Inch Nails because they love their work.
Comments (2)
I would like a copy
Personally I think the days of paying for music by the song or by the album will be coming to an end. Free or all-you-can-eat music for a set price is much more appealing and makes a lot more sense, since artists can make the most money on concerts, t-shirts, merchandise, etc..