Trent Reznor’s Odd Strategy For Movie Soundtrack

Already, speculations are being made that, in releasing the soundtrack for The Social Network, Trent Reznor has abandoned the very business model that he defined. There’s the obvious email address for a free download widget. Then, the options are as follows: CD, HD Blu-Ray audio, and vinyl. Missing from the equation appears to be Trent’s signature and now famous touch of connecting with his fans and giving them reasons beyond the music to buy the higher-priced, more innovative tiers.

I think it might be as simple as that he wasn’t as compelled to create packages that expanded on the brand of the movie. This isn’t a clear place to position his own brand. Therefore, Trent would have to get permission to tie incentives from the movie into the release. That, and, while NIN fans may want all the options and added bonuses, those whom aren't, might be intimidated by too much choice.

The other part that’s curious about the release is that, contrary to direct-to-fan synergisms, Trent doesn’t own the relationship and experience—Amazon does.

That way, Trent writes he could offer the release cheaper than he could’ve if he ran the backend himself. It would have been interesting to see this championed with the same kind of insight that’s driven the success of his other projects, but I think there are plenty of logical reasons why he chose to keep it simple… Stupid.