nanonews

Nine Inch Nails have been most famous recently for championing the cause of free music downloads, a practice that has become endemic and incredibly popular. Companies, publishers and even the musicians themselves are finally coming to the conclusion that the flow of free music downloads cannot be stopped, and that embracing the model is the only way forward. There are always new ways to make money out of industry changes like this, but it takes true innovators to spot and exploit them.

Nine Inch Nails are not the first popular mainstream band to embrace the concept of free music downloads: both Radiohead and Coldplay in the UK have managed to get on the bandwagon previously. Both have led to critically acclaimed music and, clearly, will benefit the bands financially in the future.

But are these bands true innovators or are they simple using the fuss surrounding free music downloads as free publicity? Is there even a difference? In an industry like this where publicity equals future income, any band would do well to get as much as they can. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has been a little coy about his perception of the success of the venture, and has described it as a ‘one off’.