Yesterday Nine Inch Nails announced a unique concert pre-sale that offers registered fans the best seats, a ticket imprinted with their name, early venue access and more. Mastermind Trent Reznor even shares that he's not sure he can't do better:
"We've been working very hard to get the best tickets in the hands of the fans, bypassing scalpers, ticket resellers, and ticketing agencies... This has been a difficult process to bring together outside of The Spiral (NIN's fan club), and frankly, it's a work in progress."
Combine the pre-sale with the recent d.i.y. album release that offers everything from a free 9 track sampler to a $300 Ultra Deluxe Limited Edition, and you get a picture of a musician deeply concerned with serving fans. Whether the motivation is morality or commerce really doesn't matter. Reznor gives all his fans - from the casual to the committed - what they want.
There's really nothing revolutionary here, he borrows many of his marketing concepts from others. But like any good artist that borrows from the past and present, he combines concepts in unique ways that speak to his audience. In doing so, Reznor is paving the way for the next generation of musicians who control their content and thrive via a connection to fans. There's no reason that next-gen music execs can't follow Reznor's lead as well.
