The Social Network soundtrack will see it’s digital release next week. This will be available for purchase EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon MP3 at a promotional rate of $2.99 for a 48 hour period starting 12:01am PT on September 28th. Physical formats (CD, Blu-ray and vinyl) will be released in October, but you can pre-order now.

Trent Reznor has often famously supported a free-for-all download, such as the sampler he gave away as part of the NIN|JA tour, but with his work with NIN, he also created high-end packages that retailed to the super-fans. Maybe since this is an outside project, with more complicated licenses and other publishing and copyright agencies involved because of the film synchronisation, he has decided to partner with Amazon and pretty standard ordering and delivery options.

You can get a free five track sampler from the supporting website – click through to find the link…

A statement from Reznor reads: ‘This is what Atticus and I have been working on for the last few months. We had a great time working with David Fincher on this and the film turned out excellent – something we’re very proud of. It opens in theatres Oct 1 and you should check it out. Musically, this all came out of our secret laboratory – electronic in basis, but mostly organic sounding. Lots of experiments and emphasis on sound fraying around the edges while focusing on the proper emotional tone for the various scenes. Regarding the purchase options, sorry about the “clunkiness” of not offering the full record digital download pre-sale (and having to visit Amazon). My agenda was to be able to offer this for the lowest possible price and this was the best way to achieve that. Amazon has been a great partner with past projects and I appreciate your understanding.‘

For your free five track sampler, and to pre-order any of the digital and physical formats of the Soundtrack, head to http://www.nullco.com/TSN/

The movie is being released on October 1st, amid much confusion and controversy that the film and book on which it is based have no founding in how Facebook actually started. Ben Mezrich published the book ‘The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook. A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal’ — the basis of ‘The Social Network’. From Wired… ‘Mezrich is most famous for Bringing Down the House, a dramatic tale of wily MIT math freaks using advanced card-counting techniques to milk Las Vegas blackjack tables for millions. The story was optioned and eventually used as the basis for the movie 21. A public fact-checking ensued, and Mezrich readily admitted he’d enhanced his account with composite characters and reimagined scenes. Despite these concessions, he also maintained the book is a “99.9 percent true story.” ‘

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he will not go see the film, but we thought we’d share the official trailer, just in case you’re interested.

by Lee Jarvis.

“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.