January 5, 2008 0:10

Trent Reznor 'disheartened' by state of music industry

Radiohead-like business model has disappointing results for record he produced

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor admitted that he is "disheartened" by the results of a new music business model he attempted.

As producer of rapper Saul Williams' new album 'The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust', Reznor decided to employ a similar business model to that of Radiohead, which gave listeners the option of paying nothing for a download of the album, or $5 for higher-quality MP3s.

In a posting yesterday (January 3) on Nine Inch Nails' website, Reznor revealed the sales figures, saying, "Perhaps by revealing of all our data -- our 'dirty laundry' -- we can contribute to a better solution."

Giving the background that Williams' 2004 self-titled album sold 33,897 copies, Reznor revealed the following data.

"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."

Reznor added: "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."

On the positive side, Reznor pointed out that they hardly spent any money marketing the album, adding, "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."

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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