Below is a link to an article on something I brought up in class. It is about Saul Williams, an accomplished, but largely unknown, poet/spokenword artist. However, someone important noticed him - Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails became a fan a few years ago and began to work with Williams. In 2005 and 2006, Williams toured as the opening act for NIN and appeared on the group's 2007 album.
In late 2007, Williams "released" his latest musical work, "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust" which was produced by Reznor. The album hit the Internet as a free music download with the option of paying $5.00 to support the artist. This was a surprising move for such an unknown artist. The release came about a month after Radiohead, a group with an existing following, offered their album, "In Rainbows" as an Internet download where the customer pick their own price.
As of January, 2008, over 150,000 listeners downloaded the album - 29,000 opting to pay according to DailyCollegian.com. For Williams, these are great numbers - his previous album only sold about 30,000. There are rumors that Williams plans to release a physical album later this year.
When I went to Williams' site to download the album, I was disappointed to find that there was a 100,000 free-download limit... and it had been reached.
http://www.canada.com/cityguides/vancouver/story.html?id=acffd6c0-e3b4-4e1a-9fe1-e0e728a94aa5&k=37776
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