Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor surprised the music world Sunday night by offering the latest Nine Inch Nails album, a 36-track instrumental "soundtrack for daydreams" entitled Ghosts I-IV, online. You can download it here. The two-hour collection was recorded in a marathon ten-week recording session last fall, after the band's contract with label Interscope expired in October.
 
Reznor, who has long been an outspoken critic of the greed-based infrastructure of major labels, is an advocate of the potential for artist-focused digital distribution using the internet. After testing the waters of digital independence in his collaboration with Saul Williams on last year's The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, Reznor is offering his new album in a pick-your-price method that should serve as the second massive blow to major labels in recent months. The first strike, of course, was Radiohead's In Rainbows, which the newly independent band offered to fans in a digital, DRM free pay-what-you-want format. In doing so, they became the first big-name band to cut out the gluttonous gladhanders clinging to a failing, antiquated business model and bring the music to the fans directly.

On the Ghosts website, Reznor explains his motivation behind the album: "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."

The site must be getting hammered, because I couldn't get past the purchase options page. If you're having the same trouble, Ghosts I-IV is also available via Amazon.com for $5.

Billboard.com is reporting that Ghosts I-IV will receive a traditional retail release on April 8. The first 9 songs are available for free on the site (http://ghosts.nin.com/), or you can get all 36 tracks for five bucks. There’s also a $10 double-disc CD set that includes a 16-page booklet, or a $75 package that includes two discs, a DVD and a deluxe book. And if you’ve got $300 to burn, a signed deluxe limited-edition set with 4 vinyl LPs and limited-edition artwork is available. And of course, it’s all DRM-free.

Below you can check out some of the music from Ghosts I-IV courtesy of the NIN site’s custom flash player: