NIN Challenges Media Limitations
Starting in mid-february, Nine Inch Nails launched a new “project” (for lack of a better word) allowing fans to enter the world inside of the band’s forthcoming concept album, Year Zero. Whether you believe this to be Earth-shattering or not, you have to give Trent Reznor credit for one thing: For years, he’s complained about the limitations of the music CD as a medium. This time, he’s not complaining. He’s at least trying to do something about it.
The Situation in a Nutshell
Now, I’m not going to tell you everything that’s happened up until now. I’m not that much a fanboy, and you’ve got better places to get informed. Check out Echoing The Sound’s Current Summary of Year Zero The NIN Wiki to get complete and up-to-date details.
The short version is as follows: Concert-goers at the current European tours have been dropped clues in the physical world, cuing them to go someplace in the virtual world. For example, an official tour t-shirt prompted fans to go to a website, where they found clues to go to more websites, and even dial a phone number with a recording that – you guessed it – clued them in on another website to visit. When the trail seems to run dry, Nine Inch Nails simply drops another physical clue at one of their shows.
Art to Some, Marketing to Others
When this “project” first appeared, many classified it as a marketing campaign. A few days later, however, Trent Reznor (aka Nine Inch Nails without band members) said:
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 somekind of gimmick to get you to buy a record – it IS the art form… andwe’re just getting started. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Some have called “bullshit” on Reznor, while others hail him as the living incarnation of the one true God. This aspect of Nine Inch Nails has always frustrated me. I think I’m probably more irritated by the people who shoot down NIN’s work just because they think it sets them apart or makes them more original than the band’s army of adoring fans. All it really makes them is as immature and childish as the very fans they despise.
That said, when I say I try to stand somewhere in the middle, I think you can tell I mean it.
Art, Marketing, Form, Function, and the Blurry Lines Between
While initial reports from MTV News spoke of a rumor that some of this work was in fact carried out by a viral marketing firm in England, I personally don’t think it’s fair to automatically assume the work they did is just marketing.
Granted, all of this is generating a lot of excitement over Year Zero, but it also attaches more meaning to the album. My guess is, by the time I hear the album, I’ll already know a little about the character from which each song’s lyrics are written. In fact, will have learned more about them than I would be able to from listening to the music alone. This extra content – despite possibly being produced by marketing firms – does contribute artistically to the album.
Consider the Practical Implications
You wouldn’t expect the label to pay for all of this. I personally would imagine they’re too stingy, but I also would be surprised if Reznor even trusted the label enough to give him what he needed to pull all this off. He probably had to fund it personally.
Frankly, to do what he wanted, the companies most prepared to make it happen for him while offering the most affordable production cost are viral marketing firms. These kinds of companies are already equipped for things like sending someone to drop USB flash drives in restrooms, setting up phone numbers that answer callers with pre-recorded messages, or creating websites connected to everything else.
In other words, it just happens that viral marketers have looked for ways to create the kinds of advertising that audiences can immerse themselves in for years. For once, they’ve been asked to apply these techniques not for the deliberate cause of generating buzz, but to help actually clarify and contribute to an artist’s vision.
Trent’s Not Complaining Any More
Trent Reznor has complained for years that the compact disc, as a medium, is inadequate for him. In 1999, he complained about the size of the artwork, or the ability for consumers to skip from one song to another has encouraged pop singles and discouraged the production of cohesive albums.
In 2004, he didn’t even bother including a lyrics booklet, opting instead to publish a PDF online, promising that the booklet itself might, over time, change and evolve. To my recollection, it hasn’t.
The bottom line is, Trent has bitched and bitched about the medium for years, and say what you will about these latest goings-on – call them shallow publicity stunts, run-of-the-mill attempts at writing some dystopian sci-fi, or just what this nation needed – at least the man is doing more than just bitching about the limitations of the compact disc.
And for that alone, I think he deserves at least some respect.