Nine Inch Nails Spreads Virally
By Adam Shahbaz for iMedia Connection on April 2, 2007
The band Nine Inch Nails is taking full advantage of new media to market its upcoming album, "Year Zero."
Instead of interviews and the standard CD/Tour, Trent Reznor, the band's front man, has used guerilla tactics and allowed the word to spread via the internet.
At tour stops, the band left USB drives with MP3s from its upcoming album release in bathroom stalls. Then, fans found the drives and posted the songs on their sites and blogs.
Reznor also enlisted the help of 42 Entertainment to create cryptic websites designed to promote the band's message. The websites, such as http://www.bethehammer.net or http://www.anotherversionofthetruth.com lead users through an eerie path designed to mirror the concept of the upcoming album.
If the strategy, which has already seen considerable success, catches on, the music industry might finally discover a friend in its long-time user-generated foe.
Transcribed by Lt. Randazzo