NIN album is on fan site, ‘on me’

With no fanfare, the Nine Inch Nails posted a free download of their new album, “The Slip,” on the band’s official website early Monday morning, meant as a gesture of gratitude to fans, said Nails auteur Trent Reznor in a posting: “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years -- this one’s on me.”

“The Slip,” which has 10 tracks, is available at www .nin.com, in a variety of formats (including one billed as a “higher-than-CD quality” 24-bit 96k version), all of them free and delivered with album artwork, lyrics and credits as a PDF file. Radiohead made headlines in October for a “pay what you want” model, when its album “In Rainbows” was sold online on a so-called tip-jar model in which fans paid what they wanted for the download, even if it was zero. “The Slip” will be sold in CD and vinyl format in July.

-- Geoff Boucher