Hot on the heels of the recent “pay what you want” Radiohead album release, Saul Williams’ new album, Niggy Tardust, is unlocked and ready to be consumed by the masses. The slam poet cum hip-hop artist’s album distribution method is very similar to that of In Rainbows in that listeners can choose to either pay or not pay for the digital download. However, unlike the Radiohead release, listeners have only one price they can pay for the album ($5) AND they have a choice in which file format they receive their music in.
According to the order page at niggytardust.com:
If you choose to pay for the record, your download will be available in the following formats:
- 192Kbps MP3
- 320Kbps MP3
- FLAC lossless audio
If you choose not to pay for the record, you will receive it in 192Kbps MP3 format.
All versions include a PDF with artwork and lyrics
Those of you who read my earlier rant on digital music can infer that I’m very excited by the options offered by Mr. Williams and his producer, Trent Reznor. One of the biggest problems I had with the Radiohead release was that there was no way for me to obtain any sort of high quality version of the album without paying the $80USD or so for the physical product. Kudos to Saul and Trent for offering the right file formats (and encoded with LAME too!) to people who want them. Bonus points for including artwork and lyrics. This is the product digital music retailers should have been selling from the get-go.
As for the music itself, well, my slow-ass internet connection is still downloading the .zip file now so I can’t provide any initial impressions yet. BUT, I hear there’s a pretty awesome cover of U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday which has my panties wet with excitement.
Download the album [Niggytardust.com]
