Why won't people pay $5?
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) produced a great record last year with rapper/poet Saul Williams. It's smart, edgy and doesn't fit the current model of what "hip hop" is sounding like these days at all.
It's kind of a throw back to "old school" hip hop - it's pre "bling, bitches and bentlys".
Anyway - instead of putting the music out through a record label - Trent & Saul put it out for free online with an option to get the high quality digital version for $5.00
Last week Trent released the numbers (something radiohead has not yet done) here's how it broke out:
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.
Of those paying,
3220 chose 192kbps MP3
19,764 chose 320kbps MP3
5338 chose FLAC
Trent was somewhat disappointed. You can read his original blog about it HERE
Today - Trent does an interview on the whole matter with C-Net (don't know why he talks to them - whatever)
In the interview Trent basically said he might have given "the fans" too much credit - thinking the only reason people pirate music is because there's too many unnecessary obstacles to paying for it. That if given the fair and reasonable chance - fans would choose to support an artist.
With 18% of people choosing to pay - it appears NOT to be the case in this instance.
Here's the thing though.
Trent & Saul's project is really different. It's a fusion/mash up of Nine Inch Nails and Saul's unique brand of hip/hop poetry.
I'm not sure the average NIN fan or the average Saul Williams poetry or hip hop fan would really dig that kind of mash-up.
Perhaps Trent over-estimated the tolerance & interest of his & Saul's fans for music that travels outside the expectations of their own brands.
We've seen this happen with many other artists over the years who have traveled away from what made them "famous" to begin with. Sometimes to good results - most often not.
We all have artists we know & like - and when they do something that travels too out far from what we love them for - chances are we won't go along for the ride. That's just the way it is.
That forces me to wonder how different it would have been had Trent used this internet release method with a genuine Nine Inch Nails project.
I suspect the "support" figure of paid downloads would be way higher. But maybe even that is a pipe dream.
Anyway - here's the interview. Good read - the whole thing makes me think. I'm grateful for guys like Trent who try new things - take risks and then have the balls to talk openly about it.
Trent Reznor: Why won't people pay $5?: "In an exclusive interview, the Nine Inch Nails front man said his realization that fans think 'music should be looked at as free' was a bitter pill to gulp down."
(Via Jeff Schmidt's shared items in Google Reader.)
PS -For the record - I was one of the 18.3% that ponied up a measly 5 spot for a great recording.