Evolution eats through sanctity with no regard for legacy. It’s an undeniable fact that applies just as much to music as it does to outdated social sedative mythologies- just ask vinyl. After the clunky, short-lived 8-track brought a new portability to the listening experience, cassettes came along, and as a format they were a damn sight more convenient, in both size and playback versatility, than the alternative.

While they certainly didn’t push to any new heights of artistic potential from the source, cassettes blew open the doors of listener involvement. As tape decks, Walkmen and boomboxes popped up everywhere in the eighties, the mixtape was also born, and quickly rose to fame.

In 2000, Lars Ulrich and Metallica famously sued Napster, and published a 60,000 page printout of names of fans who had traded their music in MP3 format online. This established Metallica, and Lars particularly, as the king of backwards-thinking douchebags in the music industry. Of course they won by technicality- unfortunately, music fans generally don’t know who the fuck Doug Morris is- but Lars ran a very public, very bold campaign, and he was elected king douchebag by overwhelming majority.

In April, I caught wind of a rather interesting blurb in Wired. Ulrich said that Metallica could be planning a digital release “along the lines of what Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done.” He said, “We’re looking at how we can embrace everything.”

For years, a heated discussion raged on about the atrocities of ruthless internet pirates and the crippling impact their cruelties had on the music business, the artists, the record stores, and even the music itself.

Finally, that ridiculous discussion is being put to rest, as more and more artists and music listeners are educating themselves beyond label rhetoric, and challenging antiquated business models and distribution paradigms.

The record labels are still trying to charge for a product that others (more and more brave souls each day) are providing for cheaper, or free, as convenient as a couple clicks of a mouse button. Even when the record labels timidly test the water by giving a little bit away for free to “see how it goes,” they do it wrong. They do low quality so as not to devalue CDs. Or they only release samples. Or they make you sign up to a mailing list you don’t want spamming you every Tuesday when they try and cram their brand new garbage down everyone’s throats. Their websites and online tools don’t work right. They don’t understand the internet like the kids do, and they don’t have the passion or vision that artists like Trent Reznor has.

While the record companies scramble to recalibrate their moneymaking format and plug the holes in the crumbling dam of their infrastructure, Trent Reznor’s leading the charge of the new revolution with colors blazing, and the battle’s clearly a no-contest. This is undeniably a watershed moment in the music business, and Reznor’s efforts will undoubtedly be noted as pivotal in getting the new age of music off the ground. He’s walking the walk, engaging in honest, open discussions at a time when the possibilities are limitless and millions of music fans have the music biz by the balls.

Trent Reznor sure as hell doesn’t waste time. He hit the ground running after breaking his major label chains last year, writing and recording a massive amount of new material in a grueling ten week recording session shortly thereafter. The result, with zero fanfare and by total surprise is Ghosts I-IV, a new Nine Inch Nails album.
Read on for details and an audio preview…