Reznor 'Leaks' 400 GB Of High Def Concert Footage
from the keep-it-up dept
Trent Reznor is making it awfully difficult for me to finish the presentation I’m giving about him next week at MidemNet, because he keeps on doing stuff that should be mentioned in that presentation (I may have to ask the MidemNet folks for more time!). The latest is a post on the NIN.com site (which, annoyingly, doesn’t have permalinks for his posts — though others repost it in the forums on the site) saying:
The internet is full of surprises these days.
I was contacted by a mysterious, shadowy group of subversives who SOMEHOW managed to film a substantial amount (over 400 GB!) of raw, unedited HD footage from three separate complete shows of our Lights in the Sky tour. Security must have been lacking at these shows because the quality of the footage is excellent.If any of you could find a LINK to that footage I’ll bet some enterprising fans could assemble something pretty cool.
Oh yeah, you didn’t hear this from me.
posted by trent reznor at 12:56pm
It’s stuff like this that makes fans love Reznor that much more. While bands like Radiohead tried to get people to pay just to remix their songs, Reznor makes it fun to be a fan. As the link above to the forum notes, the content is now available via BitTorrent, and everyone at NIN headquarters is looking forward to what comes out of it — though, they point out that with so much high def video, it’s really mainly targeted at expert users first, and amateurs are probably better off waiting a bit until other copies are made available in easier to handle formats.
Funny to see this in contrast to how Warner Music and the other record labels are dealing with online videos, where they demand money for every usage, pissing off the very musicians they’re supposed to represent. Once again, Reznor is leading the way. I’m just hoping he takes a little time off so that I can get this presentation done and not have it be out of date on the day of the presentation.
Filed Under: business models, concerts, music, nine inch nails, trent reznor, video
Comments on “Reznor 'Leaks' 400 GB Of High Def Concert Footage”
Conveniently enough...
…I just got a new hard drive and have just over 400G free. Time to piss off Comcast again. Maybe I’ll reach the 250G cap this month.
My sister is going to love this.
I always knew Trent was one of the cool kids.
😀
Holy crap!
Even Cooler
I’m imagining an even cooler scenario where the shadowy subversives contacted Reznor in order to extort some cash in order to keep the video from being leaked. Reznor then pulls the ultimate ninja move by exposing the inherent worthlessness of imaginary property.
Re: Even Cooler
I imagined the same scenario at first, but then thought how unlikely it would be.
Anyone who keeps up with Reznor (much less films his shows in HD), would probably assume he would post it up for the world to have for free.
It’s probably just somebody or group of bodies wanting to achieve that uber fan status. Good on the fans that did this though. Like Mike said it’s fun to be a Reznor fan.
Re: Re: Even Cooler
Dollars to donuts says Trent’s people did it in the first place, and his presentation is half the fun.
Re: Re: Even Cooler
The “shadowy subversives” he’s referring to are actually members of his staff – Trent was in on it the whole time.
Re: Even Cooler
Yeah, you’d have to be kind of a slow extortionist to think you’ll really get some money out of Trent for threatening to digitally release his copyrighted material.
Re: Re: Even Cooler
It was probably the RIAA… They’re REALLY slow extortionists…
Probably just me, but NIN became just another band when it was announced that Josh Freese was leaving the group.
Of course, I am biased. My family has known Josh, drummer extraordinaire, since he was in diapers.
Re: Re:
Well that was a useful and intriguing comment…
Back to the topic at hand: Rock on, Rezner. Keep doing this kind of thing.
Re: NIN-Trent!
No offense, but Trent is a musical matermind and he ALONE has made NIN! Yes, Josh awesome and old school. But, Trent is the man……..
Re: Re: NIN-Trent!
No offense taken…after all I admit being biased.
Josh, BTW, has one heck of a musical family. Mom…concert piano. Dad…plays tuba like a trumpet. Brother (Jason)…plays, well, darn near everything and has been with GD for quite a while.
Damn. All I can do is play a Kazoo. Life at times seems so unfair.
And, of course, NIN is about Reznor.
Re: Re:
So Josh was a member of Flood then, yes? Being a fan from back in the day, I think it worth mentioning that, from the start, album notes quite clearly note that “Nine Inch Nails IS Trent Reznor”, thus anyone who should tour with the band is an addition for the sake of touring and performance value, but not really a member of NIN.
Yeah, it’s a niggling detail, but I like feeling superior.
Re: Re:
nah, it became just another band around 2003 when he hit rolling stone and other mainstream magazines like that.
It’s hard to create his type of music (PHM was the only good album) when you’re a famous rich guy that people idolize.
How good would it really be as footage though I wonder if it’s shot from the crowd and without the digital audio source? I laud Mr. Reznor’s initiative as always, but I’m not sure that the end product would be worth bothering with for all but the most hard core NIN fans…
Re: Re:
Unless it was professionally done by Trent’s people and he’s just presenting it as ‘rogue’ footage. I haven’t seen it myself, but neither have you, so…
Re: Re: Re:
After digging into the comments on the linked to page for over an hour now I found someone who actually managed to download it. Trent did this. This is a professional recording, both video and audio.
yawn.
The Content Is Cool. The Message Is Cooler.
Yeah, it’s nifty that he has put 400 GB of HD Video on the web for people to find and make useful. But, look at his forum post, it reeks of cool. No full-blown ad. No marketing speak. It speaks in a language that everyone here can easily understand, while still “hinting” in a coy, fun, way that this isn’t as “leaked” as he’s having you believe. But it’s also not an unlimited data set – he’s not putting ALL of his video content online forever – it’s just this set of 3 shows. Which, then sets up the challenge.
He sets it out as a challenge “if any of you can find the link …” with a more subtle, and more difficult, challenge “I’ll bet some enterprising fan …”
He doesn’t promise anything. No “first place” for “the best video editing uploaded to my video site” – just a simple, do with it as you please. But there’s the very subtle acknowledgment that Trent will see it and acknowledge those which are “pretty cool.” By eliminating “places” and “prizes” he implies that amateur content can be as “pretty cool” as professional content. It also says “I’m not doing this so you can watch my concerts, I want to see what you folks can DO with it.”
So, the take-away here isn’t “put all of your video online” – the take-away for bands to learn from is “interact with your fans in language and form that doesn’t make them feel like they are just your consumers or that some of them are better than others.” He gets across a lot of information in a fairly terse, friendly message that is at once counter-culture, knowing, current, and open-ended; yet still establishes boundaries and parameters and done with intent.
Also interesting will be see what, if any, money comes out of this. Because that will be what the “bigger picture” will ask. OK, great. Our fans like us. But how are we going to make any money off of them? Unfortunately, they probably won’t realize they’ve answered their own question. The costs for this zero – they already own the HD cameras, they were already “on”, they were already recording. They weren’t planning on doing anything with it anyway. So, the better question is: why not?
Re: The Content Is Cool. The Message Is Cooler.
In the “big picture,” this will be a moneymaker. When promises of a “gift” were made to fans, they likely returned to nin.com countless times in the month from the time it was mentioned, until this footage was delivered. (I know I did!) While they’re at the website, fans are engaged! NIN has, smartly, placed a full resource for fans on their website; it’s a veritable self-contained world on there. You may have come to check on this so-called gift, but there’s a link there for merch, a link for tickets to the tour, and more importantly an active discussion forum (and discussion, good or bad, breeds profits in this day and age).
Clearly NIN is getting it right! Kudos to Trent and his staff — er, “subversives.”
Josh Freese is a great drummer. He just wants to spend less time on the road and more time with his kids. Nobody — especially Trent — blames him for that. But don’t forget, NIN IS TRENT REZNOR. He will find another great drummer. Or maybe Freese will come back. Either way, NIN will continue.
Some of the footage is amazing (until it crashes your piece of &*(& machine). Some of the footage isn’t. The point is, it’s free, and whatever comes from it will be a positive experience for anyone who chooses to use it, watch it, or sit around drinking Molsons in front of someone’s monitor and bust on it.
See, he loves us.
WAR
Re: Re:
Dave Grohl already was on their album. Trent can get him again, or some other good drummer. The drummer doesn’t matter as much for NIN, but it sure adds a lot (i.e. March of the Pigs).
i bet this shadowy group is part of Reznor’s staff after this is a great marketing stunt.
think about it.
Re: Re:
i bet this shadowy group is part of Reznor’s staff after this is a great marketing stunt.
think about it.
Um. Yes. That was the whole point. Reznor leaked it.
Re: Re: Re:
its seem my subtlety detector is not working 🙁
Re: Re:
NiN filmed it themselves. But the big difference is, with marketing stunts, theres often no real substance. With this, theres 400GB of substance.. in HD with stereo audio taken from their sound system. It sounds like you’re there, right next to Trent on the stage and it looks even better than it sounds.
Even MORE good news!
I like reading blogs like this. It’s refreshing to see Techdirt isn’t always about the negative press, even though I still like reading those too.
Good for you, Trent! You are the wind beneath my wings.
Where can I find
a 400GB Micro SD card for my MP3 player?
This guy its already in the future history books. A TRUE GENIUS !!!
Re: Re:
A true *marketing* genius. Musician… eh… average. Songwriter, fairly good.
Re: Re: Re:
I love NIN, but I’ll agree to that. He’s a fairly good musician with a great understanding of how this brave new world works.
I’m still pulling for a video of your presentation.
Re: Re:
I’m still pulling for a video of your presentation.
Working on the details… There should be something. Just trying to figure out the best way to set it up.
bullshit
Stop posting about me.
Seriously. This article has nothing to do with me.
I am not a NIN fan, but Reznor keeps making it harder not to like his music… he’s just so down to earth, regular, and cool. This is a guy you’d expect to meet rocking out in his garage — only he’s not there anymore, he’s touring with an entourage, but keeping a realistic perspective while he does it.
Re: Re:
I am not a NIN fan, but Reznor keeps making it harder not to like his music.
Probably the best praise so far.
A post about NIN
A post about NIN always warrants at least one comment from me.
My comment is that I love NIN.
Music is awesome (I know its my opinion, but its my favorite areas of music). And he is a marketing genius who loves his fans. Loving fans can get you a long way artists out there! That means no major labels because they are not pro-fan, they are only pro-money and pro-greed. Ditch them!
Re: A post about NIN
To be fair, if a major lable DID turn pro-fan, I wouldn’t be against them. So long as they did it right, I’d even be OK with EMI staying around.
Your presentation sounds interesting. Too bad I’ve booked in some family time in Brussels that weekend. A transcript/notes would be a really interesting read!
This is not a damn "marketing stunt!"
nah, it became just another band around 2003 when he hit rolling stone and other mainstream magazines like that.
It’s hard to create his type of music (PHM was the only good album) when you’re a famous rich guy that people idolize.
Um, you do realize that Trent was on the cover of rolling stone back in the day when TDS came out, right? That was in 1996. TDS was also the album that rocketed NIN to fame and fortune, so if your going to use fortune, fame and Rolling Stone to deem NIN “just another band” then at least get your facts straight.
As for the release of the footage, Trent is NOT doing this for marketing purposes. I can tell you that with absolute certainty. That’s what everyone said about the Year Zero ARG…”oh, it’s just an elaborate marketing STUNT…” Trent understandably got pissed because it wasn’t a marketing stunt, it was a way to make his music interactive to his fans and to expand his ART. Beyonce freaking Knowles doing a horrific Pepsi commercial is a marketing stunt. Radiohead’s In Rainbows was a marketing stunt. This is a Christmas present, not a marketing stunt!
Re: This is not a damn "marketing stunt!"
A very good point. Trent isn’t pulling a stunt. He’s not trying to do something flashy to get attention. He really means this. He’s doing it because it’s what his fans want.
Re: Re: This is not a damn "marketing stunt!"
Same reason he told his fans in Australia to download his music. His fans want the music but down there they charge such insanely outrageous prices. He really does love his fans. Just like he stated when he released the entire The Slip album for free. Stated it was a big thank you to his fans.
Same as CSTrigger said, time to piss off Comcast.
A subtle middle finger
I think it’s realistic to say that someone, somewhere will put together a mix of this that will outshine label efforts.
At which point, I think it will offer some vindication to Trent spending what appears to be a small fortune in seeding this material out. It will also extend a middle finger to Vivendi/Universal for at the least not forking over some cash for production. I think at the most a deal is cut along the way to sell one of the mixes. Plus it keeps the fans occupied isn’t a bad idea.
We’re all now more patiently rabidly waiting for the Year Zero follow-up.
And the more to come part: A live webcast(s) from studio sessions or some show, it was a high pick on the survey. Showtime or HBO picking up Year Zero would be nice.
And of course some software contest would be cool. Tackled, audio and video so far with the content leaks or releases. Next software?
Re:
I was honestly surprised to see peoples’ comments on here kind of pointing to the fact that not everyone realized that these were NIN’s own recordings they were releasing. Interesting.
NIN has always been all about revolutionizing the idea of a concert, and have continuously outdone themselves with each tour. A major part of this has always been some kind of video release to show performances from their shows. Since their DVD release of And All That Could Have Been, their tour footage has been top-notch. I believe their HD-DVD release of Beside You In Time won several awards for best HD-DVD.
He definitely takes things beyond just simple marketing. He goes out of his way to do things for his fans that simply aren’t done in the music industry, and this is just another prime example of that.
I have never understood the concept of shunning any band just because they managed to make it big. I mean, isn’t that more or less the goal? Nobody gets into any business so they can stay broke all of the time. With NIN, at least you know you’re fully getting your money’s worth. He has taken the money he has made over the past two decades and continuously spends it in ways to further interact the fans, to make his live performances better, and to ultimately immerse you in his art.
So in a way, you’re right. NIN has stopped being a band. They’re so much more than that now.
If you do post a video, or transcript online...
Mike,
Don’t know if you’re still checking comments for this thread, but if you do post any material from your presentation online, I’d love to post something about it on our NIN news site. Really, I’d just like to read it myself, and I figure people who come to my site feel the same way. Drop me an email – thanks;
–m.
Another Version of the truth
This DVD is awesome!!