All music starts with genre. Genre is the key to determining what impact your music will make and what audience you will develop. Michael Trent Reznor, founder of Nine Inch Nails took every opportunity he could when it came to subverting from expectations. Reznor who had been front and center in the music industry since 1988 continually surprised his fans with his contribution to the industrial rock genre through his work in Nine Inch Nails. The experimental music form of the industrial rock genre recognized a niche audience. It differed from more traditional rock sub genres purposely shying away from popularize punk rock music. The key term to recognize woulda be experimental. 

The Punk era sold heavily on that of live concert music that you could feel and sometimes relied on radical means of entertainment. Nine Inch Nails understood their audience in regards to taking leaps, including using tape to record their live performances. An attribute still used in many of their current performances according to video footage taken from both a show in Dallas 1990 and a recent show performance in 2017. Nine Inch Nails had gathered a large audience and a earned Grammy in 1993 this popularity allowed them to reach a fame where Reznor had the opportunity to open his own record label, Nothing Records and later The Null Corporation.

Fast forward to the 21st century music technology was evolving and the punk era was slowly beginning to fade out to the more favorable, pop and techno. Along with this was the evolution of technology platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud which is free and available to any one who had the internet. The band had previously mentioned the desire to distribute their music independently after their release from a contract with a mainstream label company. The experimental nature of the industrial rock genre leaked into Reznor's reputation after he release an entire album of instrumental music for free through the Nine Inch Nails Website. Ghost I-IV was released in 2008 and included 36 improvised songs. The response to this album was advantageous earning more than 750 000 preorders for a hard copy version plus the additional downloads.  

But could this have been catastrophic? Many source quote that Punk enthusiast held a grudge towards the era of digital music and that it could not compete with live performances. Trent Reznor thrived with his radical subversion of expectations of the industrial rock genre. His aversion to conforming to traditional music distribution has granted the emerging artists the freedom to create digital media. While allowing the audience to have an open mind about digital content.