Here is a great keynote presentation from the Leadership Music Digital Summit, where Mike Masnick of Techdirt shares the details of Trent Reznor’ and Nine Inch Nails’ recent ventures, and how he believes they are pushing the music industry forward.

“That’s great”, I hear you say, “you’re always going on about NIN, but we can’t afford to do this or have as many resources”. Well, Masnick also shares how other musicians are using similar ideas and implementing them in their own careers. It’s not about copying what Reznor thinks, he’s a pioneer and can do things on a grand scale thanks to selling million of albums, concert tickets and merchandise items. But you can learn to think outside the box; detach yourself from the idea that music is a product that you must sell via a record label. Experiment, and think about all the revenue streams, technical possibilities, and other perks and positive impacts that you can generate from your music endeavours.

It’s only 25 minutes, so grab some coffee and check it out…

(original video hosted at Vimeo)

Lee Jarvis.

NIN does it again.

Trent Reznor has a great project called NIN|JA 2009 , giving away a 6 track EP from three different bands (Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction and Street Sweeper) to help promote their extensive summer ’09 tour.

Any readers of my industry blog know that I’m not just a Nine Inch Nails fan, but a huge supporter of Reznor’s music strategies. Giving your music away in order to raise awareness and generate future revenue, in this case, ticket sales. The idea worked very well for the Ghosts I-IV album last year, where releasing the first volume for free download not only resulted in $1.6m in first week sales (of physical CDs, deluxe boxsets and digital downloads), but also helped contribute to a hugely popular 2008 tour of both South and North America.

Obviously NIN are a globally famous band, but that’s not to say that lesser-known artists can’t use the same idea to help raise awareness. Imagine how impressed any venue booker would be if you could help sell out a show. Not to mention that while you have a captive audience, a well placed and stocked merchandise table will help recoup any ‘losses’ of giving away a free download or two.

Making money because of your music instead of directly from it is a lesson that many artists can learn from.

Lee Jarvis.