As a professional artist promoting your work in today’s DIY hyper-connected world, you may long for the days when artists relied on management teams and publicists to get our names out there. But if we actually look back, history shows that taking your brand into your own hands was always a smart idea waiting to become the rule. Take, for instance, Trent Reznor, the brilliant creator and producing powerhouse behind one of the most important industrial rock bands of all time, Nine Inch Nails, who somehow got booked for Dance Party USA during the 1990 promotional tour for Pretty Hate Machine.

If you’re unfamiliar with the band, here’s what the Nine Inch Nails brand actually represents.

So yeah, not quite the right fit for Dance Party USA.

If there’s an artist who truly understands his brand, it’s Reznor. If you do a Google search on “Nine Inch Nails” and look at the images, videos and websites that come up, you’ll see what I mean. The Trent Reznor we know today would never have let the Dance Party USA gig happen, and if he did, he would have meant it as a joke.

Today, Reznor continues to find new ways to extend his brand, most recently teaming up with director David Fincher (a powerful brand in his own right) on the score for the film The Social Network, about the forces that came to create Facebook. Just the fact that these two artist brands have leant themselves to the project brings a whole new perception of what the film experience will be like. The movie trailer reflects this beautifully:

And, if that wasn’t enough, you can see yet another way Reznor is expanding his brand with his latest music project How To Destroy Angels with wife Mariqueen Maandig and bandmate Atticus Ross. Their self-titled EP picks up where Nine Inch Nails leaves off—taking the brand into a sexier, paired down territory—with influences ranging from Massive Attack to Brian Eno.

How To Destroy Angels (Trent Reznor, Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross)

You can download the new How To Destro Angels EP FREE here >

Fast forward to 1:00 when the track comes in. And wait for the pay off at 4:04.

EQ Magazine, one of the UK’s top-rated online music journals featured my latest transmedia storytelling collection, Nightwork, and A Crowd Electric’s new single “Don’t Touch Me (When I’m Dancing)” as part of their new TRAX series. We’re being listed among the likes of N.E.R.D. and Chromeo and are super proud to have been given such a prestigious shout.

See the EQ feature and download “Don’t Touch Me (When I’m Dancing) here >

If a skinny white boy led the congregation of a southern Baptist church, it might sound something like “Sermons” by the Cold War Kids. Lead singer, Nathan Willett’s voice is one of a kind. Have a listen and you’ll see what I mean.

Preach it, brother.

The studio version is available on their new EP, Behave Yourself. You can buy it here on iTunes >

If you like this song, you need to see the movie The Apostle featuring Robert Duvall (at his absolute best).

If the idea of an upcoming Facebook biopic (The Social Network) makes you wince, just keep a couple things in mind: 1) It’s directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en). And 2) It’s scored by Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails). Add to that this creepy trailer, and you’ve got my ticket on pre-sale.

From Trent Reznor, via NIN.com:

“I was planning on taking some time off after the continual waves of touring that ended last fall and spend this year experimenting around with what would become How To Destroy Angels and some new NIN. Well, that plan didn’t work out so well. David Fincher started inquiring about my interest in scoring his upcoming film, The Social Network. Yeah, the movie about the founding of Facebook. I’ve always loved David’s work but quite honestly I wondered what would draw him to tell that story. When I actually read the script and realized what he was up to, I said goodbye to that free time I had planned. Atticus Ross and I have been on a creative roll so I asked him if he wanted to work on this with me and we signed on.

Speaking of the film… it’s really fucking good. And dark!”

A beautiful song. A haunting voice. You’ll hear bits of Beirut and Antony & the Johnsons. The band is called The Irrepressibles. The song is called “In This Shirt.” And the video is a stunning danse macabre.

If you like “In This Shirt” you can extend your experience with the “story” through:

Music:
The Irrepressibles
Antony & the Johnsons
Beirut
William Fitzsimmons

Clothing:
By Robert James
James Caviello
Freemans Sporting Club
Anthropologie
Oak
In God We Trust

Art
René Magritte
Pablo Picasso
John Singer Sargent
Francis Bacon

Movies
Lost Highway
Moulin Rouge

Don’t let the recent news of Barnes & Noble’s impending sale fool you. People are still buying books—more than ever—just not in the way they used to.

Like any shift in our habits, switching from buying books in a store to buying them online has taken time time to fully sink in. But now, with the thriving popularity of Amazon and other online booksellers, and the introduction of e-readers like the Kindle and the iPad, people are more likely to get their stories over the web than they are to walk into a store.

iPad by Apple

The giant brick-and-mortar booksellers and the enormous overhead that goes along with them are no longer a necessity, and, in the case of Barnes & Noble, causing a drastic plunge in stockholder value. The last thing Barnes & Noble wants is to share the fate of the Virgin Megastore or Tower Records, when suddenly everyone went from buying CDs to downloading MP3s.

Barnes & Noble – Hendersonville, TN – Photo courtesy of Ed! at Wikipedia

But the issue facing large booksellers, and the publishing industry in general, isn’t just about the delivery method, but rather the tidal wave of products their putting out. The market has reached a tipping point of oversaturation where it’s nearly impossible for people to make a meaningful connection with the books they’re presented.

Like traditional publishing, the music industry went through its own golden period. There was a time when there was simply less on the market—and only one way to buy it. If you went to a record store in the 70s and you didn’t know what you wanted, and if that day the shop was promoting the new Beatles, Stones and Beach Boys albums, that was basically where your selection process began and ended. But now, just like music, the publishing industry is crammed with products, and it leaves shoppers feeling overwhelmed, not knowing what to buy. If you wonder why the Twilight series was so successful, it’s not just because people are enjoying the books. It’s because the book was introduced to them by a friend—because someone stepped in and told them that of all the books out there this is the one you should read.

I think we’d all like to think that we’re more evolved than that—that we know our tastes better than anyone and can make our own decisions. But I also know that I’m going to look at the book shelves of my friends, or log onto a site like GoodReads, as a way of finding what’s right for me before I shop. That’s probably why independent bookstores have had such a resurgence in the past few years. Favorites of mine like Word, Yellow Umbrella and Lift Bridge offer the same thing I can find on my friend’s bookshelf—a curated selection. Someone has stepped in, gone through all of the titles that are out there, picked a few of the best, and are now leading me to what I’ll (probably) like. I think that’s why we have such a warm feeling about these stores. Not because they’re quaint and cozy and we’re helping out the little guy, but because we trust the little guy to help us out.

Word Bookstore – Greenpoint, Brooklyn – Photo courtesy of DUMBO BOOKS OF BROOKLYN

If anything, book buying has become a better experience in recent years. The market has finally alligned itself around two welcomed principles: making our book buying process quick, easy and universal (online), or slow, tailored and meaningful (independent booksellers). What’s next is the marrying of these two—digital books available online that immerse us in the rich, meaningful experience we long for when entering a story.

Two Blue Wolves by Sparrow Hall – an online transmedia story that is shaping the way we’ll read tomorrow

This is where I’ve been spending much of my time in recent years, developing “books” that are more than books—that give people multiple ways to connect with a story. The method, in techy terms, is called transmedia storytelling. In cozier terms, it just means that when you’re done reading a book, and you wish you had a little more, now you do. It could be music that’s inspired by the story, a video that lets you return to the world of its characters, or just a beautiful image based on the narrative that you can hang on your wall.

Two Blue Wolves Trailer / A Collaboration to Eliminate Alzheimer’s Disease

The first transmedia story I created that explores this new method is called Two Blue Wolves, about a young couple in Paris attempting to hold onto a dissolving love. And my newest transmedia story is called Nightwork, about a young traveler looking for direction in all the wrong places.

Nightwork – a transmedia storytelling collection by Sparrow Hall

If you’d like to see what these stories are like, you can preview Two Blue Wolves here and Nightwork here. And please let me know what you think. Because just like the old days, and the old ways, the future of books has everything to do with you, the reader. Feel free to email me at sh@sparrowhall.com or comment back to this post. Looking forward to hearing from you.