Nine Inch Nails

The marketing campaign behind the new Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero has been interesting to watch for its creative use of viral participation. While the campaign has used fake government websites, fake revolutionaries, fake crackpots and fake companies to tell the concept album's backstory, the band has also leaked DRM-free tracks to fans (some of them in formats allowing for remixing by sequencing software).

This last part, of course, has annoyed the RIAA, who has been sending cease and desist letters to websites that have been hosting the content. That's strange, considering the releases were sanctioned by both the band and their label. In the end, the RIAA's effort is moot anyway, since despite what Slashdot says, the full album appeared on Torrent trackers yesterday, weeks ahead of its scheduled April 17 release date.