I'm really starting to love Nine Inch Nails

Up until a couple of months ago when Nine Inch Nails released their Ghosts albums (I blogged about it here) I hadn't even listened to a single NIN track.  Now they have earnt some of my hard-earned cash that I am really happy to have given it to them. I understand that from each CD sale that an artist makes through a music store they earn not much more than $1.00.  Their record companies, wholesaler, retailers, management etc are hoovering up the rest of the cash. But not Nine Inch Nails.  They are giving away much of their music and offering options to buy special merchandise and higher quality audio in the hope that it will attract audiences to live concerts in the future.
A NIN media release recently quoted
"Nine Inch Nails' 36-track instrumental opus Ghosts I-IV, released March 2 via NIN.com, has amassed a first week total of 781,917 transactions (including free and paid downloads as well as orders for physical product), resulting in a take of $1,619,420 USD.
"These figures represent the most relevant and contemporary metric for measuring how Nine Inch Nails' music is reaching its fans," said NIN manager Jim Guerinot.
As previously reported, the $300 Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition of Ghosts I-IV immediately sold out its run of 2500. The $5 Download, $10 2XCD set and $75 Limited Edition Deluxe versions are still available at NIN.com. The $10 2XCD SET will be released to retail April 5 in Australia and Japan, April 8 in North America, and April 7 in the UK and most European territories. A $39 4X vinyl version will be available at retail April 8. Ghosts I-IV has been released under the Creative Commons license."
And now Metallica, originally one of the most ardent crusaders against online music file-sharing have changed their tune.  They now appear to be planning to follow the lead of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails - The Age wrote about it recently here
Big record companies like Sony BMG, Warner, EMI and Universal must be starting to worry about their futures.  Their biggest loss to date was when Madonna left Warner after 25 years to sign a US$120 million 10 year deal with a concert promoter.  Now big name bands are releasing music for free on the internet?  I say the writing is on the wall...