You want to hear about it from someone else.<\/p>\n
The first thing I do each morning isn’t read the newspapers, or surf the Web, I check my e-mail.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, the first time through isn’t in depth, it’s a cursory survey, to see if there’s anything important, to take the TEMPERATURE!\u00c2\u00a0 And today’s review told me…Trent Reznor was giving away the new Nine Inch Nails album, free, on the band’s site.<\/p>\n
I heard mostly from people I didn’t know.\u00c2\u00a0 They weren’t telling me so I would write about it.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t get e-mail from Trent himself, nor Jim Guerinot or someone else at Rebel Waltz.\u00c2\u00a0 But from people who were just so damn excited, they had to spread the word.<\/p>\n
And what is the word?\u00c2\u00a0 That Radiohead seems to be balking re the future (although the press has twisted Thom Yorke’s words, he didn’t exactly say they would never do a Web giveaway again…), while Trent’s moving headlong into the future.\u00c2\u00a0 While the majors are rushing albums into release before the leak, Trent’s releasing albums we’ve never even heard about…we’re finding out first from HIM!\u00c2\u00a0 Or his minions.<\/p>\n
I’m not sure you need a publicity agent anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Someone with relationships with newspapers and TV.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s fine if you want to be Mariah Carey…\u00c2\u00a0 But remember "Glitter"?\u00c2\u00a0 No one wanted to see her thereafter, until she was resurrected by L.A. Reid…\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Trent’s not dependent on singles, not hits…he’s got FANS!<\/p>\n
Mariah watchers may fill up the message boards, looking for recognition in their celebutard world…\u00c2\u00a0 But when someone posts to a Trent board, it’s not as simple as I LIKE NIN!, rather there’s something cogent being said or discussed.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, fans like to dissect the music as well as every move of an act.<\/p>\n
How do you get to be Trent?<\/p>\n
Obviously not by creating radio-friendly music.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re better off doing something unique, that fans can grab hold of, and then spread the word on.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, you wait for serendipity to play a part.<\/p>\n
With Trent, it was Woodstock ’94…\u00c2\u00a0 When he performed and the audience threw mud.\u00c2\u00a0 THEN the major press picked up on the story, not because they were fed the news by a press agent, but because THERE WAS A STORY!<\/p>\n
And immediately, the usual suspects came ‘a calling.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, you become an instant star and you hear from not only CAA, but "The Today Show", Regis & whomever he’s paired with that day…\u00c2\u00a0 All the news magazines.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re fodder for them.\u00c2\u00a0 They want to chew you up and spit you out.\u00c2\u00a0 David Letterman talked night after night about getting Nine Inch Nails on his show…but the band never appeared.\u00c2\u00a0 Because NIN was owned by the FANS, not the SYSTEM!<\/p>\n
That’s how you grow it…<\/p>\n
Marketing is not an element.\u00c2\u00a0 Nor is hair and makeup.\u00c2\u00a0 The focus is on music.\u00c2\u00a0 And you can’t get people to believe in a Diane Warren\/Clive Davis clusterfuck…\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no one HOME!\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to write the music yourself, as a band, or with band friends.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to look like you came from nowhere, not owned by the usual Hollywood suspects.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re good enough, and available enough (i.e. play live), maybe after YEARS you’ll have your serendipitous moment.\u00c2\u00a0 That you won’t even see coming.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll put a lot of effort into one gig, thinking it’s the breakthrough, when something thrown off casually will make the difference.<\/p>\n
And once you do make it, you’ve got to learn to say no.\u00c2\u00a0 The major media is not on your team.\u00c2\u00a0 They play for themselves, in their own league.<\/p>\n
As for Trent dropping another album…\u00c2\u00a0 I wouldn’t do it this way.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe he sees the record as a cohesive whole.\u00c2\u00a0 But the key in the future is a little bit on a regular basis.\u00c2\u00a0 Because this is what fans WANT!\u00c2\u00a0 New music, more info, they want to feed their addiction.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than drop a load on them infrequently, give them something they can ponder for a few days or a week, then leave them hungry for a MONTH FROM NOW!<\/p>\n
It’s not about free music.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not about piracy.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about the democratization of access.\u00c2\u00a0 About the rising power of the audience.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t pay attention to the mainstream pundits.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re just looking to save their jobs, no different from Universal Music or Sony BMG.\u00c2\u00a0 They want it the way it’s always been.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s never going to be that way again.<\/p>\n
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