“Okay, this was 1000% unexpected, but I kinda love it,” wrote another fan.

“Holy sh*t this is awesome!” wrote another. “30 years in and Trent is still full of surprises.”

Thursday morning, the single was released officially, and fans were no less pleased, thrilled by the new direction Reznor took with his vocals and instrumentation, including saxophones. Some music fans would be deterred by their favorite artist trying something completely new, but one thing that defines Nine Inch Nails fans is that they like surprises. They would have to, since Trent Reznor has built his career on creating mystique and doing exactly the opposite of what’s expected.

After all, this is the musician who started his own corporation so he could set his own prices and protect his fans. In May 2007, Trent officially broke with Interscope Records, an imprint of Universal Music Group, over a dispute about their pricing model. His landmark album Year Zero was selling for almost $30 in Australia, while most other new albums were sold for under $20. “No wonder people steal music,” he wrote on his blog after speaking to an Interscope representative. “So… I guess as a reward for being a ‘true fan’ you get ripped off.”

After this dispute with Interscope, and other publicized conflicts with TVT Records and several of his business partners, Reznor was left with a bitter taste for the industry. Soon he would start his own.

Reznor’s new ventures — culminating in the establishment of his present label, The Null Corporation — would allow him to experiment not just with his music but also the way it was released. It would bring him closer to his fans and, we can assume, make him more money. He even, for a short while, managed a website, remix.nin.com, where fans could share remixes of his work. The Null Corporation was the realization of the fantasy world created by predecessor Throbbing Gristle’s original slogan: “Industrial Music for Industrial People.”

Clearly Reznor has thrived as an independent artist, and using the available technology at the time allowed him to connect directly to his fans. But think about how far technology has come since 2007. Platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music have made music more available to us than ever before. What hasn’t changed is the decades-old system of rights management and copyrights that favors a select group of artists from major labels. Fair payouts are still a problem when an artist wants to get on streaming.

This is where the benefits of Blockchain really make the independent artist independent. Using Blockchain tools like Smart Contracts allow for an artist to make personal business deals with anyone, for example a streaming service or directly to a fan.

eMusic will bring the power of Smart Contracts to all independent artists, allowing them to follow in Reznor’s footsteps. Through eMusic’s Blockchain platform, there will be three kinds of Smart Contracts available for artists: Content, Sales, and Crowdfunding. If an independent artist wanted to start their own label, Blockchain could allow fans to invest in their work. A fan could potentially buy into a creative project before it was even made in exchange for share of ownership, or in return for limited rights to the music.

Blockchain technology is great for fans and great for artists like Reznor. Imagine if Year Zero had been released using eMusic’s upcoming Blockchain platform? All the preparations Reznor made for its release could be tracked, transparently, and he could have had complete control over how the music was priced.

We’ve made it clear at eMusic that we’re excited about the potential (you can read about our Blockchain project here). What the project needs to take it to the next step is enterprising artists to spearhead the first wave of Blockchain musicians. Invitations will start going out soon, and we will most definitely be inviting Nine Inch Nails to participate.

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