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February 15, 2007

Viral

I was browsing Digg tonight, when I came across this interesting article about Nine Inch Nails. Apparently, somebody found a USB drive in a restroom during a NIN concert in Portugal. It contained one file - a previously unreleased NIN track titled “My Violent Heart.” Random event? Possibly.

This is where it gets interesting.

Reading the Digg comments, a few points were made:

  1. The id3 tag states: “found in men’s bathroom, stall 4, coliseum, lisbon, portugal. another version of the truth .com”
  2. At the end of the track, there is a small stretch of static, much like an amateur mp3 track would include (or so I’ve noticed in my experience).
  3. Once the track has been decompressed and loaded into a Spectral Information reader, where the static is emitted shows this image.

Pretty eerie, no?

Apparently this image is making the rounds. Someone also pointed out this image. Coincidence?

The process of embedding an image in a music file has been done before by Apex Twin. I remember reading up on the discovery of this hidden image. It was pretty startling to find hidden messages buried quite some time after its initial release.

If you go digging through the foums, you’ll find some interesting content and images. It’s all very static-frequency-looking and dark (aka, NIN).

There’s something going on here. And it started with a random item placed in a restroom in Portugal.

Genius.

I love this stuff. Viral marketing, or whatever the hell it’s called. It’s finding clues within the obvious. It’s the effort to dig deeper into the obvious, and finding something mysterious. This kind of stuff really gets me going.

Also, I love it because it gives me the feeling I’m seeing things I shouldn’t see. These are hidden away from the public in dark places, and I’ve somehow been granted a glimpse into something I shouldn’t see. Not necessarily seedy, but definitely mysterious and unexplained. I like that kind of stuff.

I can only assume all of these clues (the USB drive, the hand, the forums, the images) are all part of a bigger marketing campaign for an upcoming NIN album. I remember reading about Reznor already working on his next album. I’m not a huge NIN fan persay, so don’t quote me.

Aside from all this good stuff, I do find a drawback. It’s not real. At least in one sense it’s not. These images, sounds, and events were predetermined by a marketing group (I can only assume) to promote a product. I certainly won’t complain about pushing a NIN album, but the general notion that these hidden gems were created under the inspiration of sales rather than NIN artistry bothers me.

But before you faithful NIN fans rip my lungs out for such consumer talk, I’ll state now I believe only the goal of these images is marketing. I’m pretty sure the imagery and art is inspired solely by NIN. This, my friends, is a good thing.

So bring on the creepy imagery. I’m all for discovery.

UPDATE: Just read a great article about the marketing campaign. This guy did his research!

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