nails

Selling live recordings at shows

Pollstar magazine asks a good question: why aren't more artists recording their live concerts to CD and selling them at shows? I recall that the Pixies recorded most of the shows on their reunion tour in 2004, but I haven't seen many bands do it since.

Pollstar notes that some venues retain the rights to sell anything recorded there, while others charge artists a fee for the privilege of recording their own shows for resale later. (Fair enough--the venue has probably invested heavily in sound gear, or at the very least in acoustics, which may have an effect … Read more

More big names flee their labels

The dam's breaking open: first Prince released a record as an insert in daily newspaper. The Eagles went direct through Wal-Mart. Radiohead announced plans to release its new album without the assistance of a major label, and rumors about Oasis and a couple of other British bands followed.

On Monday, Trent Reznor posted a gleeful announcement that Nine Inch Nails' record contract had ended, and that he would be experimenting with direct distribution to fans in 2008. This isn't surprising, given that Trent recently told fans at an Australian concert to steal his music. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal … Read more

Add Oasis to the list of bands considering music giveaway

These are fearful times for the music industry. As record companies train their considerable legal might on a Minnesota mother accused of illegal downloading, their talent is walking out the back door.

No sooner had Nine Inch Nails announced on Monday that it no longer was under contract to a record label, when word came that Oasis and Jamiroquai are considering whether to release songs online for free, according to British publication, The Telegraph.

Should they decide to go the free route, Oasis and Jamiroquai--two unsigned but very popular bands--would follow Radiohead, the British group that last week announced it … Read more

First Radiohead...now Nine Inch Nails bids adieu to music label

Less than a month after publicly calling executives at his music label unprintable names, rocker Trent Reznor has signaled that his days of working for a record company are over.

The only official member of the band Nine Inch Nails, Reznor announced Monday that the group is now "free of any recording contract with any label." Representatives from Reznor's music label, Universal Music Group, were unavailable for comment.

Reznor provided few details in a note on the band's Web site about how the group plans to proceed, but his announcement raised hopes among fans that he … Read more

Nine Inch Nails open sources its music

Well, sort of. Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails or NIN) was up above it. Now he's down in it.

Open source, that is. No, NIN hasn't started giving away its source code, but it has created an album based on a compilation of remixes done by NIN fans. Eliot @ Wired discovered this stroke of genius. And no, it's not a terrible lie but yes, some people have a head like a hole. (OK, enough waxing poetic with my downward spiral of old NIN songs)… Read more