The month is nearly halfway through, and the recently posted sheet music to Something I Can Never Have has been downloaded over 15,000 times; the first day alone had 9,000 downloads. Also, next week will see the release of The Piano Tribute to Nine Inch Nails, on Vitamin Records. With so many people interested in this stuff, here's your chance to show off your chops. Over the course of the next 30 days, you have the chance to win a nice sized prize pack from The NIN Hotline and Vitamin Records. This time around, it's a little more involved than just sending an email, however.Using any of the music notated at Know the Score - with the exception of The Frail, record an acoustic performance of a Nine Inch Nails song. No sequencing allowed! This must be records through a microphone (or two), performed live. Whether that means it's just you and your piano, a string quartet, or a full-on orchestra or choral group (see also: The Closer Madrigal), if you win, everyone involved gets something, but more on that later. Entries will be judged on a number of points, primarily quality of performance and audio fidelity. Again, it must be an acoustic performance -- whether that means an acoustic guitar, a piano, a violin, or a keyboard plugged into a miked amp, the ability to play is the thing. We already know what it sounds like sequenced and synthesized. If you would like to perform something that is not on Know the Score, let me know ahead of time, and I'll let you know if it's alright.What do you win?
The grand prize winner will get a copy of The Piano Tribute to Nine Inch Nails, the String Quartet Tribute to Nine Inch Nails (both courtesy Vitamin Records), a Downward Spiral Deluxe Edition window 24"x24" cling for every person involved in your recording, as well as two Downward Spiral Deluxe Edition lithographs, and a bunch of NIN logo stickers. Runners up will get a window cling and a bunch of NIN stickers. How do I get this to you?
You can submit music via email as an MP3 (I prefer 192kbps variable-bitrate or higher) no larger than 10mb in size by emailing it to theninhotline@gmail.com. If you would prefer to send a CD, it must be postmarked no later than March 12th, 2005, and sent to
The NIN Hotline
3025 North 2nd St
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Email entries must be received by March 12th, snail mail entries postmarked by March 12th. The contest is open to all residents of the planet Earth.What happens to our recordings afterwards?
Technically speaking, we are probably violating some kind of US Copyright law just by having the sheet music online. If we would attempt to distribute the music you record, even freely, that would further our level of infringement. I can't really do anything with the recordings, except listen to and judge them. In a similar vein, your email addresses will not be used for spam or anything like that, just like always.Good luck, you have one month!
