And talking of innovative online promotions, which we weren't, but Yorke probably has been, Nine Inch Nails man Trent Reznor has said he was "disheartened" by the response to the previously reported Saul Williams digital album offer which he was involved in.
As previously reported, Williams new album, 'The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust', which was produced by Reznor, was made available online. Fans could choose between a free standard download, or pay a fiver for higher quality MP3s. The plan, presumably, was that existing fans would want to pay for their download, while those not normally exposed to Williams' work may take the free download this time, but if impressed might buy future releases, or pay the five dollars to upgrade to the better quality version this time. But did it work?
Well, writing about the whole thing last week, Reznor seems rather disappointed. He wrote: "Perhaps by revealing of all our data - our 'dirty laundry' - we can contribute to a better solution. As of 1/2/08, 154,449 people chose to download Saul's new record. 28,322 of those people chose to pay $5 for it, meaning: 18.3% chose to pay. Is it good news that less than one in five feel it was worth $5? I'm not sure what I was expecting but that percentage - primarily from fans - seems disheartening".
However, Reznor did see a silver lining, recognising Williams' music may have reached more people this way, and noting that they had saved a lot of money associated with making and marketing traditional CD releases. He concluded: "Saul's music is in more peoples' iPods than ever before and people are interested in him. He'll be touring throughout the year and we will continue to get the word out however we can".