In all seriousness, the App-Store guidelines on what can be approved or not are most likely written to vaguely that it is up to the reviewer to decide what they mean.
Reviewer #1 may be a liberal, and will pass the app without problem.
Reviewer #2 might be an evangelical x-tian and will deny the app.
Extrapolate that out to however many reviewers making those decisions, and you can see it is pure luck that gets some apps passed (Shake the Baby and Pee Monkey Toilet Trainer), while others get knocked back (Eucalyptus and the NIN app).
Actually, Moby recently decided to allow a bunch of his tracks (some released, some not) available for free for use in indi-films. A bit of paperwork involved it seems, but still...
The Reg article misses most points (which it does more often these days).
The servers were getting hammered, so a LOT of fans chose to make the purchase then hit TPB to download. The digital version was part of ANY purchase, from the digital-only to the $300 collectors-edition, so anyone who didn't get a clean or fast download could go elsewhere and get the album quickly.
If 2500 fans will pay $300 over a 30-hour period for the collectors set, imagine how many paid the lesser amounts.
A few corrections to your post.
1. The Spiral fanclub membership also allows you to purchase tickets prior to general release, access soundchecks in many locations, as well as the benefits you mention.
2. His last contracted album was the Year Zero remix album, not Year Zero. And Year Zero was certainly not 'filler' - I doubt if TR would have spent the many, many thousands of dollars of his own money to do things such as promotion (via the ARG) or things such as heat-sensitive printing on the CD if it was merely an album to release him from the contract.
3. The gap between With Teeth and Year Zero was two-years, not one.
4. He was certainly getting money from it (as much as someone on a label might) and he certainly cared - see point 2.
5. The new album (as many have mentioned) is CC-licensed and may be LEGALLY downloaded free if you want. He is asking, not demanding, a payment for the albums. Want it free, go download it legally. Want to pay a token amount for 36-songs/2+ hours music, pay it.
6. Can you say Mozart's music is lazy for having no vocals? The idea of an instrumental is that is written/recorded to have no vocals. With a lack of vocals comes the need to have other parts of the music move forward to take their place. An instrumental track is much more than a song without vocals. Try listening to a song with the vocals removed and notice the patterns and lack of kick the song has. Then go listen to a track written specifically to have no vocals.
Hmmm... just checked and you seem to be right. I would swear on a favourite non-religious book that at least Broken and Downward Spiral (and maybe The Fragile) were also there at one point post-launch however.
As for downloads, once I got to the point of it starting, I had a great download speed, and this was about 3-hours after launch... having it running off a different server, and hardly anyone able to get a payment through had its advantages;)
The fan-base may be due to the label, but the 'anti-label' mentality that Trent/NIN has is also due to the label.
TR/NIN has been pushed by the labels, as most bands have, for his entire career. His second release almost never made it, with the label blocking all attempts at recording, and resulted in him recording in secret, at his expense, in order to complete. That release won him a Grammy.
His label attempted to block him appearing on an EP, resulting in the releasing artist distorting his vocals and claiming it was someone else.
These are just two of many instances where the label tried to block the artist, while complaining the artist doesn't do enough for them. And they then wonder why the bands fight back?
TR/NIN now have almost everything they have released available for free download, are now releasing music in a non-traditional manner, and making a damn good show of it. A few more releases from a few more bands like this, and we will hopefully see the death of the old-school mentality in record labels, and a shift towards a fairer industry that will benefit all parties - and not just the suits on the top-floors of the labels.
And download one can. Trent/NIN have all their back-catalogue (plus non-release and fan-mixes) available for download at the remix section of their site, something few bands even consider.
Actually, since TR had posted on the NIN.com site "2 hours" just prior to the launch, it was pure fan-reaction, not the result of being listed on any social-network or news-aggregator website.
It had almost died after 5-minutes, and hadn't been linked anywhere at that point.
I can assure you it isn't.
The free tracks can also be found on The Pirate Bay thanks to TR, and I am one of the lucky-ones to have the full albums downloaded in FLAC format.
Once the server stops getting hammered... try again.
That can depend. One of the distributors I deal with will ship without cases to minimise shipping costs. Cuts shipping right down.
The others are all happy to discuss ways of getting the price down.
Sure... if we can get the Euro selection for music;)
The releases we get here isn't quite the full list available to the EU/US part of the world... Weighed heavily towards the cRap/R&B/TOp40 end of the charts, and less towards the indi/electronic/industrrial end.
For that selection, expect prices to start at AU$30 and rise.
I have found the trick is to bittorrent on the release-date, order the CD from the EU/US, then wait for it to arrive.
Why would that change anything. He has already released a live DVD, you can already download it, and people still go to the gigs.
Watching a concert on a tv does not compare to being there.
You are losing sight of the original point TR is raising.
Prices in AUSTRALIA are stupidly high. His original rant (back in May) was when he found out that his album was priced at AU$32 (US$17.50) while generic top40 fluff was sold at AU$21. The reason given by the record company (UA) was that his fans would pay that price, so they will sell it high.
The video is him continuing that rant. Australian prices hadn't dropped (RRP) and as he found in China, his music was damn near impossible to find apart from pirate copies sold in markets.
In those cases (prices artificially inflated or items not available) he said to download it free.
That you can pre-order in the US for a cheap price means nothing to the argument. You either have to wait a few weeks for the item to be sent, or pay extra for priority airmail (negating the cheap price anyway). If you can buy any CD cheap, cool. But some of us do get ripped off just because we aren't in the good ol' USA.
New (major artist) CD's are from about AU$21 (around US$17.50) to AU$35 (US$29) depending on artist or packaging.
At times I can import from the UK (not the best exchange rate) and still land it here cheaper.
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In all seriousness, the App-Store guidelines on what can be approved or not are most likely written to vaguely that it is up to the reviewer to decide what they mean.
Reviewer #1 may be a liberal, and will pass the app without problem.
Reviewer #2 might be an evangelical x-tian and will deny the app.
Extrapolate that out to however many reviewers making those decisions, and you can see it is pure luck that gets some apps passed (Shake the Baby and Pee Monkey Toilet Trainer), while others get knocked back (Eucalyptus and the NIN app).
"But the guidelines Lord Jobs gave us say..."
Actually, Moby recently decided to allow a bunch of his tracks (some released, some not) available for free for use in indi-films. A bit of paperwork involved it seems, but still...
The Reg article misses most points (which it does more often these days).
The servers were getting hammered, so a LOT of fans chose to make the purchase then hit TPB to download. The digital version was part of ANY purchase, from the digital-only to the $300 collectors-edition, so anyone who didn't get a clean or fast download could go elsewhere and get the album quickly.
If 2500 fans will pay $300 over a 30-hour period for the collectors set, imagine how many paid the lesser amounts.
I'm awaiting the actual numbers of sales.
As a DJ I would just like to say...
*sigh* yes there are a lot of moronic DJs out there who can't read (or comprehend) and will pay US$300 just to get the vinyl.
You forgot two other reasons for the delay in release...
"We have decided to push the release back another month as it would conflict with XXXXX's album and we don't want to steal their thunder".
"We have decided we will release the album in [country X] first, see how it goes, and then release it in other locations a month or two later"
Both common tactics of the big labels, and both reasons why albums appear leaked online WAY before official releases.
A few corrections to your post. 1. The Spiral fanclub membership also allows you to purchase tickets prior to general release, access soundchecks in many locations, as well as the benefits you mention. 2. His last contracted album was the Year Zero remix album, not Year Zero. And Year Zero was certainly not 'filler' - I doubt if TR would have spent the many, many thousands of dollars of his own money to do things such as promotion (via the ARG) or things such as heat-sensitive printing on the CD if it was merely an album to release him from the contract. 3. The gap between With Teeth and Year Zero was two-years, not one. 4. He was certainly getting money from it (as much as someone on a label might) and he certainly cared - see point 2. 5. The new album (as many have mentioned) is CC-licensed and may be LEGALLY downloaded free if you want. He is asking, not demanding, a payment for the albums. Want it free, go download it legally. Want to pay a token amount for 36-songs/2+ hours music, pay it. 6. Can you say Mozart's music is lazy for having no vocals? The idea of an instrumental is that is written/recorded to have no vocals. With a lack of vocals comes the need to have other parts of the music move forward to take their place. An instrumental track is much more than a song without vocals. Try listening to a song with the vocals removed and notice the patterns and lack of kick the song has. Then go listen to a track written specifically to have no vocals.
Hmmm... just checked and you seem to be right. I would swear on a favourite non-religious book that at least Broken and Downward Spiral (and maybe The Fragile) were also there at one point post-launch however. As for downloads, once I got to the point of it starting, I had a great download speed, and this was about 3-hours after launch... having it running off a different server, and hardly anyone able to get a payment through had its advantages ;)
The fan-base may be due to the label, but the 'anti-label' mentality that Trent/NIN has is also due to the label. TR/NIN has been pushed by the labels, as most bands have, for his entire career. His second release almost never made it, with the label blocking all attempts at recording, and resulted in him recording in secret, at his expense, in order to complete. That release won him a Grammy. His label attempted to block him appearing on an EP, resulting in the releasing artist distorting his vocals and claiming it was someone else. These are just two of many instances where the label tried to block the artist, while complaining the artist doesn't do enough for them. And they then wonder why the bands fight back? TR/NIN now have almost everything they have released available for free download, are now releasing music in a non-traditional manner, and making a damn good show of it. A few more releases from a few more bands like this, and we will hopefully see the death of the old-school mentality in record labels, and a shift towards a fairer industry that will benefit all parties - and not just the suits on the top-floors of the labels.
And download one can. Trent/NIN have all their back-catalogue (plus non-release and fan-mixes) available for download at the remix section of their site, something few bands even consider.
Actually, since TR had posted on the NIN.com site "2 hours" just prior to the launch, it was pure fan-reaction, not the result of being listed on any social-network or news-aggregator website. It had almost died after 5-minutes, and hadn't been linked anywhere at that point.
I can assure you it isn't. The free tracks can also be found on The Pirate Bay thanks to TR, and I am one of the lucky-ones to have the full albums downloaded in FLAC format. Once the server stops getting hammered... try again.
The vinyl-only package will get a store-release in early-April. As will the double-CD package.
That can depend. One of the distributors I deal with will ship without cases to minimise shipping costs. Cuts shipping right down. The others are all happy to discuss ways of getting the price down.
Sure... if we can get the Euro selection for music ;)
The releases we get here isn't quite the full list available to the EU/US part of the world... Weighed heavily towards the cRap/R&B/TOp40 end of the charts, and less towards the indi/electronic/industrrial end.
For that selection, expect prices to start at AU$30 and rise.
I have found the trick is to bittorrent on the release-date, order the CD from the EU/US, then wait for it to arrive.
Why would that change anything. He has already released a live DVD, you can already download it, and people still go to the gigs. Watching a concert on a tv does not compare to being there.
You are losing sight of the original point TR is raising. Prices in AUSTRALIA are stupidly high. His original rant (back in May) was when he found out that his album was priced at AU$32 (US$17.50) while generic top40 fluff was sold at AU$21. The reason given by the record company (UA) was that his fans would pay that price, so they will sell it high. The video is him continuing that rant. Australian prices hadn't dropped (RRP) and as he found in China, his music was damn near impossible to find apart from pirate copies sold in markets. In those cases (prices artificially inflated or items not available) he said to download it free. That you can pre-order in the US for a cheap price means nothing to the argument. You either have to wait a few weeks for the item to be sent, or pay extra for priority airmail (negating the cheap price anyway). If you can buy any CD cheap, cool. But some of us do get ripped off just because we aren't in the good ol' USA.
New (major artist) CD's are from about AU$21 (around US$17.50) to AU$35 (US$29) depending on artist or packaging. At times I can import from the UK (not the best exchange rate) and still land it here cheaper.