With the buzz about Ghosts I-IV still going strong, Trent Reznor has dropped another bomb. Nine Inch Nails have just released another album - this one a full length with vocals titled The Slip - under Creative Commons license.

What’s different this time is that the entire album is available for free, even the ultra quality versions. There will be a physical release around July, we’re told, but unlike Ghosts you don’t have to buy something to get the CD-quality audio. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t something special in store for those who buy the physical media, much as they did for Ghosts.

The CC license - and its implications - are spelled out much more directly this time:

the slip is licensed under a creative commons attribution non-commercial share alike license.

we encourage you to
remix it
share it with your friends,
post it on your blog,
play it on your podcast,
give it to strangers,
etc.

©2008 NIN

One thing he didn’t list, which is allowable under the license, is: use it as your soundtrack for your (noncommercial) film. How often has an established major artist made that offer to the public? And not just for a song or two, but for close to three hours of music in the past two months!!!

About a week or two ago, they’d released the first single, Discipline, directly to radio stations just hours after it had been mastered. That’s a turnaround time which has proven to be totally impossible under the old music model.

I should also mention that just prior to the release of Ghosts, they launched their own remix site dedicated explicitly to user remixes of their songs. (Since With Teeth in 2005, Nine Inch Nails have been releasing the multi-track files for their songs and encouraging listeners to remix them, a phenomenon which precipitated the creation of my Only remix and music video.) And shortly after Ghosts, they launched a YouTube festival of sorts, encouraging people to create videos for their music from that double album.

Oh, and don’t forget the whole ARG phenomenon surrounding the album Year Zero.

The whole thing is almost unbelievable. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a massive surge of productivity by a single musical artist in my lifetime, certainly not one where that artist is so hands-on with the details, nor one which is so cross-media in nature. And, for a fan like me, it’s all good good good.

Get The Slip for free at: http://theslip.nin.com/

Next Machinima Audio Conference
– Date/Time: Saturday, April 26, 2008 @ 2:00 p.m. Second Life Time (Pacific - PST)
– Verify for your time zone: World Time Server
– Location: Fleef Fimicoloud’s place in Second Life
– More info: Audio Conference Main Page

Next Machiniplex Premiere - Tom Jantol’s “The Fish Incident”
– Date/Time: Sunday, April 27, 2008 @ 12:00 p.m. Second Life Time (Pacific - PST)
– Verify for your time zone: World Time Server
– Location: HatHead’s Lounge in Second Life
– More Info: Machiniplex3 Blog Entry

Submission Deadline for The Overcast Machinima Contest
– Date/Time: Sunday, April 27, 2008 @ 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
– Verify for your time zone: World Time Server
– More info: Overcast Contest Info Page

This is precisely two weeks after 52 starts on 5/2. (Those dates are May 16th and May 2nd for those of you from dd/mm land.) After a hiatus which calls into question my machinima podcast’s “approxi-weekly” designation, the overcast will return to the airwaves on Friday, May 16, at which time the winner of The Overcast Machinima Contest (entry deadline is APRIL 27!!) will be announced… and that will be the last show of its kind for a very long time.

Why? Some big changes are coming to the show’s format which I think you’ll find very exciting. I’ll tell you all about that very soon.

As for the 52 on 5/2 mystery? Keep your eye on the ZS YouTube Channel on that day.

The next Machinima Audio Conference will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 2:00pm PST (that’s 5:00pm EST and 10:00pm GMT). While this is a bit early for the California people, I’m hoping this ends up being a time where we can get a good representation of participants on both sides of the pond. We’ll continue to keep the time fluid for future meetings until we find just the right pocket.

Speaking of the right pocket, there’s been some lively discussion of the choice of Second Life as a venue for Conference #05 which we’re trying again for this next one. At both this forum thread and at this comment thread (feel free to join in at either), those most vocal about the subject appear to be those unenthusiastic about SL. The jump in actual conference turnout, however, seems to suggest that at least some are okay with the decision.

I’d set out to respond to the most recent comment on the Conference #05 notes, and it turned out a bit longer than I’d anticipated, so I’m going to lay out that defense / explanation of the decision for you here:
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Sound Lantern is an interesting application of the user-generated content phenomenon. It takes the YouTube model, and applies it to the world of sound. Users are encouraged to upload sound effects, music, audiobooks, poetry… all things audio. It will be interesting to see how they deal with copyright challenges; what’s to stop people from turning the site into a hub for trading copyrighted works? Content creators already have venues like The FreeSound Project and Soundsnap, which appear to have stricter upload guidelines. YouTube is loaded with “found objects”… but then they’ve got staff and mechanisms in place to at least attempt to police material for infringement. I wonder how a new startup like Sound Lantern will handle that?

Apart from that, where a site like this might get really interesting is if it extends itself by way of RSS so someone can subscribe to Twitter-like podcasts of sound bytes. That would also enable someone to host their traditional podcasts there too. Right now, I’m not seeing any feeds there, but it’s something to watch for.

To commemorate the release of the BloodSpell DVD, here’s the story behind the (in some circles) infamous mock newscast I did on the overcast back in episode #008 in July, 2006.

When Hugh talks about his magnum opus feature film, BloodSpell, it’s hard to contain his enthusiasm. But believe it or not, to hear him talk and write about it now, what you’re seeing is a slightly restrained version of that excitement. His verbiage is nowadays tempered a bit, this in large part due to how initial promotional efforts of the film were received. That reception, at least in the inner circles of the machinima community, ranged from quiet disdain to inflamed hostility. In fact, at times the zeal of the criticism eclipsed the promotion strategy being criticized… Hugh was called arrogant, full of himself, delusional, and worse.

All in a day’s work for a man hopelessly in love with filmmaking.

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