NIN Releases Free Album Online

Continuing his flirtation with online music distribution, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor released the band's latest album free of charge through NIN.com.

Following in the footsteps of Radiohead’s In Rainbows and the success of its own previous online release, Ghosts I-IV, Nine Inch Nails surprised fans on Monday with an entire album available online for free. The Slip comprises 10 tracks available entirely free of charge by providing an e-mail address.

“Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years – this one’s on me,” NIN front man Trent Reznor wrote in a brief post announcing the download on NIN.com. Users can choose to download the album in one of several formats, including compressed MP3 files, lossless FLAC or M4A files, and even 24/96 WAVE files, which boast better quality than a traditional CD. A PDF of artwork and credits is also included.

Unlike Radiohead’s In Rainbows, which challenged online downloaders to pay whatever they wanted (including nothing, if they saw fit), and Ghosts I-IV, which included only one volume for free online, The Slip is available in its entirety. For those who prefer physical media, NIN will release the album on CD and vinyl in July, although it isn’t clear whether the band will yank the downloads from its Web site at that point, ala Radiohead.