Nine Inch Nails, which is now both Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, ended 2016 with a bang when they not only released a new EP, Not the Actual Events, but also all of their albums on vinyl.
One of the items for sale, however, was “a unique limited edition digital and physical component version” of Not the Actual Events. It was $12. Looking at the product page, one would assume that the physical component would be a CD, although it doesn’t actually specify that in the description.
Said physical component begun arriving to fans across the world yesterday afternoon, and many were none too happy. As suggested in the description, the envelope did not contain a CD, but instead a bunch of art covered in black dust, which many have described as “printer toner”. Many users on reddit were so angry that they’re giving away their purchase as they just wanted a physical copy of the album.
The argument pursuant with this publicity stunt is that Reznor didn’t want to release just another CD that would become a NIN fan’s coaster, but instead wanted to release a one-of-a-kind piece of art that none of his fans would ever forget (I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t forget paying $12 to be “glitter bombed” by Trent Reznor).
Being that the new Nine Inch Nails EP was immediately made available on platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify, is it fair that Reznor charged fans $12 for some soot and images that arrived month after the fact? How do you guys feel about this experimental release?