Breaking New Ground: The Nine Inch Nails Approach To The Music Industry

It was big news when Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor broke ties with long time label Interscope Records (owned by Universal Music Group) after the release of “Year Zero Remixed” in 2007. In an interview with the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun in May 2007, Reznor described his distaste for the major labels and their actions. He recounted how he had entered an HMV in Sydney only to find that his band’s new album was priced $10 to $15 more than most other releases. He told the paper that in a conversation with a label rep about the situation he was told, “basically it’s because we know you’ve got a core audience that’s gonna buy whatever we put out, so we can charge more for that. It’s the pop stuff we have to discount to get people buy it. True fans will pay whatever”.

 

Josh Freese Marketing Update

In a recent post (February 24, 2009) the unorthodox marketing initiative of artist Josh Freese was discussed in detail. The following is an e-mail sent directly from Josh Freese to Bob Lefsetz (famous for his career spent as an American entertainment lawyer/author of “The Lefsetz Letter”/majordomo of Sanctuary Music’s American division) that Lefsetz published in one of  his many “mailbag” posts on April 11, 2009. Here Freese discusses the results of his unique approach thus far:

From: Josh Freese
Subject: Checking in with an update.

Hi there Bob. How are ya?

So, I wanted to check in and give you an update on what’s been going on just after the first week or so of my records release. My label, “Outerscope Records” (that’s me, my girlfriend and our nanny when the kids are asleep) is proud to report that  I’ve sold about 150 of the $50 of the packages and all 25 of the $250 packages (those went in the first 24 hours.) In less than a week I have sold 4 of the $500, 2 of the $2,500, 2 of the $5,000, and the big old $20,000 package! No one has bought the $75,000 package yet but I’ve had someone fairly serious inquiries about it (still only “talk” at this point though.)

Concert Ticketing: The New Frontier

Perhaps the only topic receiving more attention these days than digital downloading and the unstable footing of the major labels is concert ticketing. As record sales have bottomed out, the revenue accrued from touring has not only remained strong but has in fact increased. This is one reason that “360 deal” has now become a commonly uttered term in the industry. Concert earnings and merchandise sales, which at one point were largely immune to being tapped by the labels, are often included in these umbrella style deals that trade overarching representation for a cut of everything. Madonna signed such a contract with Live Nation in 2007 for $120 million that combined her recording, publishing and touring revenues.

 

Since concert tickets are continuing to sell it is no surprise that more people are trying to get into the game. It is well known that goliaths Live Nation and Ticketmaster are hoping to join forces (if they can get past all of the anti-trust concerns) but a new addition to the playing field is a little company by the name of Wal-Mart. In a different twist on the ticketing front, Wal-Mart will work on an act-by-act basis, choosing specific artists to work with rather than selling tickets to anything/everything. In return, the artist

The Label Debate Continues

One of the most consistently debated and pondered over topics proliferating the conversations of the industry these days is the importance of the record label. Do artists still need them? Can you succeed without one? Whose interests do they have in mind? If you look back at the previous entries on this site you will see that there is a lengthy discussion on the position of labels in the current market. Rather than reiterate what has been said earlier this is an opportunity to look at a few recent occurrences and make a few observations. 

 

It is apparent that the music industry is no longer controlled by a group of head honchos or dominated by a few superstar artists. The playing field has been leveled in recent years as it has been made easier for fans to seek out new music and satisfy their niche tastes. Radio friendly tracks and Top 40 singles are not our only option. The Internet has allowed every person to determine their own tastes and this is diversifying what is popular or even successful music. If that is the case then some would suggest that the record label’s power in marketing and breaking a band has been diminished. Many bands are taking a portion, if not their entire career into their own hands. Myspace,