So as of recently I have been generating ideas of units or lessons for a Technology in English course in my high school. My brother, who is tech saavy, suggested that I listen to the TWIT (This Week In Technology) podcast. Upon listening to the first one I was happy to hear about Nine Inch Nails (NIN- a 90’s metal band) and their ongoing goal of reaching the audience by using technology. In the prior semester I did a presentation explaining how NIN has allowed the fans to interact with their material by editing songs, taking pictures at show, and using their songs as sound tracks for movies. The focus of the presentation was the world making and collective knowledge efforts of NIN’s “Year Zero” album.
NIN has now upped the bar once again. On their website they state that somehow there has been a “security breach” and 7 high definition camera shots/angles of their last tour have been released to the internet. They then imply that they want the audience to create music videos with the footage provided. There isn't just a few songs or scraps of footage either; there’s 400 GB of footage. This is available to anyone who wants it and can store it. I have the storage for it, although I will have to convert it, as I am a PC user. While some of NIN may not be appropriate for the high school classroom I definitely believe they can be used as an example of just how interactive nature of the internet has allowed fans of music to become closer with the artists. Now let’s make something clear, NIN and Trent Reznor are clearly exceptions to other copyright protected industry artists. In essence Reznor has given his fans infinite resources, saved on his own production costs, and received many videos in return. Perhaps if a clean song were found, an assignment for a video production class would be to construct a unique video from the stock footage. Possibilities are endless with 400 GB.
Here is a link to the TWIT podcast: http://twit.tv/
Here is a link to the NIN world: www.nin.com
Here is a link to the NIN footage: http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?52,378166
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Kenai,
ReplyDeleteI am an occasional listener of NIN (I have my favorite songs), and I knew they could have their fans help them with editing and providing footage for their use, although I didn't know they had that much footage available! It is quite amazing, and I don't know any other band who utilizes its fan base for future successes - do you?
Trent Reznor is the forerunner as far as fan relations go. He seems to be the only one that realizes you won't get far fighting against a tidal wave, but you can be rocketed forward if you ride the wave. Plus, it helps that Trent has been a comeplete computer nerd since the 80's.
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