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>
==Release==
Prior to the album's release photos taken in the studio and cryptic messages had been left on the front page of [[nin.com]] suggesting "secret things", however there was no mention of an actual album. ''Ghosts'' was released without prior warning when a message from Reznor appearing on nin.com announced that 'The new Nine Inch Nails record is available RIGHT NOW!' with a link to [[ghosts.nin.com]] where the album is available in various formats.
<blockquote>"Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I (2008)
<br><br>
This torrent is an official upload from Nine Inch Nails.
<br><br>
<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>
<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>
<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>
<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>