It’s a shame Nine Inch Nails isn’t touring anymore. Their concerts, while an acquired taste for some, were always a spectacle, replete with one-of-a-kind technological marvels, and I could totally see Silent Drum at the forefront should they return. More »
Straight from the twitter account of the man himself, the NIN iPhone app has been approved and will be available sometime later today “unchanged” from the version that Apple found objectionable.
The technologically-inclined NIN frontman is notoriously vocal about tech, media and censorship issues, but Apple’s recent rejection of his iPhone app really sent Trent Reznor over the edge, and onto his forums.
I Do Not Want This news to be true, but it is: Apple rejected the NIN app update for “objectionable content.” I have never felt Closer to Trent Reznor than I do today, little Piggy.
Tapulous—the creators of that Perfect Drug of an app, Tap Tap Revenge–is partnering up with Nine Inch Nails to put over a dozen of the band’s songs in the game. The alliance will be one of the first to bring licensed content to iPhone apps and, depending on how successful it is, could mark a surge of similar musician/application deals. Considering how addictive the game (with a Capital G) is, this NIN-bundle could be the thing that’ll suck you Into The Tap Tap Revenge Void. [TechCrunch]
Trent Reznor, front man for Nine Inch Nails, is no stranger to cool tech, incredibly in-depth viral and ARG marketing campaigns, and new ways to entertain his fans live in concert. During their current Lights in the Sky tour, they let Wired writer Brian Gardiner and photographer Jon Snyder record and catalog basically everything that goes on behind the scenes to make things tick. That includes a system run entirely by Linux; hundreds of LED lights, lasers; intentional BSoD’s, and “Stealth Screens”—huge, interactive marvels of tech and engineering that Reznor and his band mates can pass through and control in real time as the concert unfolds. “I’m not really a purist,” Reznor told Wired. “If I’m in the studio working on an album, I try to only please myself. But when it’s a tour, it feels a bit more like I have a responsibility to some degree to entertain people.” No shit. [Wired]
BSODs have been plaguing NIN on their current tour. In fact, one has been popping up on the giant display behind them at just about every concert. So what’s the deal? Will Trent be forced to fire his tech guy? Hardly. The truth is that it is all part of the act. The BSOD pops up for a split second near the end of the song The Great Destroyer, and there are videos after the break from two separate concerts to prove it. We all know Trent is a Mac man—so this is obviously a subliminal jab at Windows. I’m sure the nerds in the audience get a kick out of it.
Trent Reznor is not only breaking the old distribution model, he’s even breaking the newest, like Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want: Nine Inch Nails’ latest album—The Slip—is 100% free, no payment required in any case, not even when you download the whooping 1.2GB version—which includes high definition WAVE 24/96 files (better-than-CD-quality 24bit 96kHz audio.) You can also choose from high-quality MP3s, FLAC lossless and M4A lossless. Note to record labels: drop dead. [NIN]
Any hope that the pay-what-you-want release of In Rainbows would set a precedent for Radiohead albums of the future has been dashed. Tortured treehugger and all-round good bloke Thom Yorke set the record straight yesterday, calling the band’s decision to let their fans agree on a price on their last release a “one-off.”
Ars Technica is reporting that the deluxe packages of Trent Reznor’s Ghosts I-IV online album experiment has already sold out. Considering there was only 2,500 packages costing US$300 each, the Nine Inch Nails Frontman looks to have netted himself a cool US$750,000, just three days after the packages were made available. Who said you couldn’t make money off music online? More »
