==Inspiration==
The official introduction page for the album reads:
:<blockquote>"Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I–IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.<br><br>:Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."</blockquote>
The official site also contains the following under [http://ghosts.nin.com/main/more_info "More Info"]
:<blockquote>"This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as... something.<br><br>:The team: [[Atticus Ross]], [[Alan Moulder]] and myself with some help from [[Alessandro Cortini]], [[Adrian Belew]] and [[The Dresden Dolls|Brian Viglione]]. [[Rob Sheridan]] collaborated with Artist in Residence (A+R) to create the accompanying visual and physical aesthetic.<br><br>:We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing. What we thought could be a five song EP became much more. I invited some friends over to join in and we all enjoyed the process of collaborating on this.<br><br>:The end result is a wildly varied body of music that we're able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed - from a 100% DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we've ever created.<br><br>:More volumes of ''Ghosts'' are likely to appear in the future."<br><br>:- [[Trent Reznor]], March 2, 2008</blockquote>
==Formats==
''Ghosts I'' was uploaded to various torrent sites, most notably The Pirate Bay, with the following message included:
:<blockquote>"Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I (2008)<br><br>:This torrent is an official upload from Nine Inch Nails.<br><br>:We're very proud to present a new collection of instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV. Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.<br><br>:Now that we're no longer constrained by a record label, we've decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.<br><br>:We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. It's licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.<br><br>:We've also made a 40 page PDF book to accompany the album. If you'd like to download it for free, visit<br> [http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf]<br><br>:Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Undoubtedly you'll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file, but if you're interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com, where the complete Ghosts I-IV is available directly from us in a variety of DRM-free digital formats, including FLAC lossless, for only $5. You can also order it on CD, or as a deluxe package with multitrack audio files, high definition audio on Blu-ray disc, and a large hard-bound book.<br><br>:We genuinely appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy the new music. Thanks for listening."<br><br><br><br>:[http://ghosts.nin.com http://ghosts.nin.com]</blockquote>
==Initial response and technical issues==
On March 3, 2008, the day after the release, the following was put up in place of the ''Ghosts I-IV'' web site:
:<blockquote>"Unfortunately, the Ghosts I–IV site is down for the next few hours for maintenance.<br><br>:We quietly released this album last night without any warning, and without any press. Because we know how devoted our fans are, we planned for an overwhelming response, and expected heavy traffic. To our surprise, the traffic was more than three times what we anticipated, and has only been getting heavier throughout the day. The response has been absolutely phenomenal, and we couldn't be happier, but our servers have taken a beating, causing numerous problems with the download site. Our developers, who have been working non-stop to combat the surge of traffic, feel that taking the site down for a few hours to fix some crucial issues is the best way to get things running smoothly again. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.<br><br>:While the site is down, you can still purchase the complete Ghosts I–IV here from Amazon's MP3 store for only $5. The MP3s are high quality and DRM-free. You can also order the deluxe and limited edition packages from Artist in Residence.<br><br>:If you're familiar with BitTorrent, you can download Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, for free, from [http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4059158/Nine_Inch_Nails_-_Ghosts_I_(2008) our official upload at The Pirate Bay].<br><br>:If you ordered a download and have not yet been able to retrieve it or have experienced any technical difficulties with the download, your download link will work as soon as the site returns.<br><br>:Thanks again for the amazing support, and your continuing patience. Watch nin.com for updates during the downtime."</blockquote>
Later, the following message was posted to nin.com:
:<blockquote>"The new Nine Inch Nails record is available RIGHT NOW! (for real this time) <br><br>:Sorry again about the hassle. Somebody kicked the plug out of our internets, but we're all set now. <br><br>:P.S. DIGG THIS <br><br>:posted by Trent Reznor at 8:00 PM pst, from hong kong."</blockquote>
On March 13, 2008, Reznor announced a partnership with YouTube to host a "film festival" around ''Ghosts,'' writing on nin.com:
:<blockquote>"The concept is for you to take whatever tracks you feel inspired by from Ghosts and create what you feel should accompany them visually. You will be able to see all of the submissions, and a team of us (including me) will be sorting through them and setting aside ones we feel are exceptional. Eventually (within a couple of months?) we will present a virtual "film festival" with me and some special guests presenting selections of your work.:<br><br>This isn't a contest and you don't win elaborate prizes - it's meant to be an experiment in collaboration and a chance for us to interact beyond the typical one-way artist-to-fan relationship. We've discussed some interesting ways this could go, including multiple installments of the online "film festivals," to broadcast TV specials, to a one-time live performance of the entire Ghosts record with your visuals involved. It really depends on how this progresses and develops."</blockquote>
==External links==