Rich Fiscus
16 Jan 2008 21:41
In a pair of interviews published on CNet last week, Trent Reznor and Saul Williams talked extensively about their joint experiment to distribute Williams' latest album online, with consumers given the option to download for free in MP3 format or pay $5 for CD quality audio. 2 weeks ago Reznor revealed that just more than 18% of those downloading the songs chose to pay for the higher quality format.
While Reznor and Williams' experiment was overshadowed by Radiohead's online giveaway last year, and again by CES last week, their story is arguably a more accurate barometer of how the average artist might expect to fare in a market where payment for downloaded music is voluntary. Besides the pair's openness about the number of downloaders who chose to pay, unlike the Radiohead release it wasn't an album that had a large, built-in listener base to generate near-automatic sales.
Reznor seemed somewhat surprised and disappointed by the figures, commenting that perhaps he had given people too much credit, but at the same time he doesn't see the release as a mistake. When asked what he wished he had done differently, he said "I think if we could wave a magic wand and do it again I think being able to offer an inexpensive version in addition to a premium physical product that could be shipped out afterward."
He also noted that if he were releasing an album of his own right now he would "do something very similar to what we just did cause I don't think there is a better option."
Williams, on the other hand, was quite optimistic about the figures, saying "We're off to a running start. We still have a physical release date to look forward to. We still have touring to look forward to. We still have marketing and promotion that all starts this year, so I don't regret anything. Not yet."
You can read more of Trent Reznor's thoughts on the experience on his blog.