Though the new Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero does not officially drop (in the U.S.) until April 17th, the extremely punk-style* marketing has been in full swing since at least February – and it’s turning out to be an incredibly clever, engaging and effective marketing scheme at that!

Reznor himself reacts strongly against the claim that the Alternate Reality Game surrounding the album – created by 42 Entertainment (Jordan Weisman of Battletech and Shadowrun fame) – is anything but the art itself, the actual album being merely an element therein. Reznor is quoted on the official fan club website The Spiral as saying:

The term ‘marketing’ sure is a frustrating one for me at the moment. What you are now starting to experience IS ‘year zero’. It’s not some kind of gimmick to get you to buy a record - it IS the art form… and we’re just getting started. Hope you enjoy the ride.

I respect his project enormously and encourage him to continue down this path, but as a full-time performing artist myself I know firsthand that if you have a product to sell, everything is marketing – whether you want it to be or not. I’m more than happy to believe that Trent is authentic in his claim that the ARG is not a marketing ploy, but that doesn’t make it any less brilliant or effective as a marketing tool.

In a very bold business move, Reznor began strategically leaking the album to the fans to accompany the immersive game – on elusive websites, via clandestine phone numbers and even on USB drives planted in bathrooms at concert venues to be found by lucky fans. The full album, in fact, is now available on the NIN website entirely for free.

Throwing caution to the wind, Trent is employing some very off-beat and, dare I say it, cutting-edge ideas to distribute his work (notice I didn’t mention just the “album”) and encourage fan loyalty through involvement and heightened emotional investment. Though other campaigns have utilized techniques such as the ARGs, and though we’re seeing a number of new approaches to music distribution through an increasing number of independent labels, electronic distribution channels, direct artist-to-consumer communications and “customizable” experiences for consumers, Trent Reznor is one of the few people combining all of the new techniques into a coherent whole while also forging new methodologies to reach the hearts and minds of his listeners. I suspect that he’ll be continually setting the new standard for effective music-industry business practices - a nice change from the unfortunate move at the beginning of his career with TVT – and others will be emulating him while he continues to push forward and reinvent the industry. Hell, he’s giving his album away before it’s released, and I’m already first in line to purchase it when it comes out! He’s certainly doing something right!

Lest I belittle this project by repeatedly referring to it as the “game”, I should also mention that Reznor also has a message. Granted, we’re not at all sure how the narrative will play out, and there is a huge element of fiction involved, but as with all good fiction there seems to be a through-line that reflects the artist/writer/creator’s true, underlying beliefs. Though I don’t know Trent personally, it’s not hard to believe – if you listen to him and his music anyhow – that the elements of government conspiracy, mind control, censorship and the generally Orwellian styling of the Year Zero ARG actually reflect Reznor’s own personal beliefs.

But then, perhaps I’m only projecting that from my own mind, for it strikes a chord within my soul and is in keeping with much of my own artistic work (see my 2005 stage show Private Thoughts and Other Lies and look for my new in-progress work entitled The Truth Machine). All of this culture jamming art is right up my alley and the Year Zero experience seems to focus a great deal on civil liberties, privacy (is that still a civil liberty?) and the relationship between the individual and “The Man”.

The Game, the marketing, the art – call it what you will, but this constantly evolving NIN experience continues to delight and, in the best alternative/industrial tradition encourages us to face those fundamental existential questions again and again, and therein lies the emotional hook and its subsequent power.

Brilliant propaganda – as only Nine Inch Nails can deliver.

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Read the Rolling Stone article here.
Or Annie Zaleski’s review of Year Zero here.
Or visit the Offical Year Zero site here.

*For those who didn’t catch the reference and are still wondering why I called Trent “punk”, I was referring to a recent book entitled Punk Marketing by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons. Not ground-breaking, but fun nevertheless and an easy, enjoyable, worthwhile read.

tags: 42 entertainment, arg, alternate reality game, battletech, fasa, industrial music, jordan weisman, mark simmons, mech, mechwarrior, nin, nine inch nails, orwellian, punk, punk marketing, reznor, richard laermer, rolling stone, shadowrun, tvt, trent reznor, year zero, culture jamming, electronic music, marketing, music, music industry, propaganda

This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at Apr 13, 07 | 10:22 pm and is filed under Art, Just Noumenon Posts, Miscellaneous, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.