I’ll be the first to say it…holy crap! This is the future right here…record labels are crappin there pants.

And to think this album has zero vocals and zero label support.

That’s pretty darn impressive. Agree with what Mikel said… this looks like the way to go for bands to be honest, but I have to wonder how the promotion bit of it will work.

Trent just got paid!

I completely agree with Mikel.

This is huge for bands if this can work with other bands as well.

Ya know, the more I think about this the more I dislike it. I spoke with Jay earlier and he really opened my mind to a different side of this whole “revolution”. He’ll be posting a blog about it, but I wanted to share my thoughts.

This whole deal seems like it’s gonna work great for the NIN’s and the Radiohead’s of the music industry, but what is this doing to up and coming bands in the future?

You have to consider that these huge bands are the glue that hold these labels together. If they start pulling out and doing there own thing then labels don’t have any choice but to start signing new bands to LONG contracts and low shares, in turn putting all power right back into the label’s hands and all of this just turns full circle.

So overall when you look at this, it’s kinda greedy for these big bands to be doing this in the long run considering what it may be doing to the future of the industry.

Greedy… possibly… but honestly with all the resources that are available now bands rely too much on a label and then when they get screwed over they wonder why.

I’ve been saying it for a while now, but I think in a few years a label will only be used to get a CD into stores.

Bands would be better off to pay for studio time themselves, get everything together then get a distribution deal with ILG, ADA or Fontana for a physical CD release.

Look at Egypt Central… they basically have no label, just a distribution deal with ILG.

One Less Reason… they’ve released three albums themselves without a label or distribution deal.

With everything that is out there I’m surprised more bands haven’t done this.

With a good management team behind you for radio and such and a booking agent is really all you need now.

Good points, Chris. Those are the kinds of things I was wondering about as well as Mikel’s points. I think that would be the best way to go about it. Your examples are pretty standout. I think OLR is a lot bigger now than they used to be so something obviously is working for them. I guess it’d still be hard for up and coming bands, but if they just keep trying to promote themselves enough and people tell enough people, etc. then it’d work I guess.

My first thought about this was that this will probably work only for bands with the huge fan base. But Mikel beat me to that point needless to say. How many bands can get away with releasing a intrumental only album and get this kind of response.

I do however disagree with it being “greedy”. I fail to see how. Not having to give the label a cut is greedy? If you were paying a middleman to help you sell something , say a painting, or drugs or whatever you happen to be selling, and you found a way to just cut out that middle man. Wouldnt you? I sure would. Why give my money to someone else to do what I can do myself.

The biggest thing new bands should do is stop signing the full blown deal, and just get a publishing deal. Its a 1 record agreement, and the advances wont bury the artist in recuperable money. Plus, if they blow up (i.e. Linkin Park), they have options (and money coming in). I agree with Mikel that NIN doing this is going to hurt other smaller bands, but it may prompt changes in artist/label relationships. Who knows…

Your point that this could hurt the smaller bands, because as pointed out, the large bands kinda keep these lables going because of sales, is probably true. A better statement would be that its unfortunate that this stradegy could hurt smaller bands. But their misfortune should not fall on Trents shoulders. He’s looking out for his best interest in my opinion. Telling eveyone to download his last album for free, and even leaking it out the way he did, that didnt seem greedy to me. The whole industry is in a ‘downward spiral’ anyways(see what I did there, gee Im clever).

All the NIN and RH of the world were once in the same possition these little guys are in, and they paid thier dues with long contracts as Mikel also points out. I just fail to see how its up to these bands to save the industry. Its very rare to ever hear of a band saying they love their label, most cant wait to get out from under contract is what Ive heard from a lot of bands. As unfortunate as it might turn out for the new bands, its not up to daddy Trent to save the day.

As far as Ive read, no one said that its up to the guys in NIN and RH to save the industry, but what they are doing is pushing for changes that are inevitably going to affect every band in the industry. I agree with you that cutting out the middle man is a way for them to make some money, which they did. Realize too, these guys have a major following (I just ebayed the Ultra Deluxe, and the one thats up there is 995.00 right now), so they are one of those bands that will probably always do well, regardless of what they put out.

While it wasnt said they needed to save the industry, it was said that this is only going to hurt it and called NIN “greedy” for doing it. So by the big bands doing this, it is only furthering the demise of labels and really hurting the small or new bands. That to me is like saying that if they stay , they help save the little guys, and thats not their job to do. I wasnt being nasty about it, just my point of view.