Idolator

Turns out Trent Reznor's grumpy reaction to the sales of Saul Williams' The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust was premature, as sales of the net-only release have doubled since Williams' "List Of Demands" began appearing in Nike ads. The funny thing is, "List Of Demands" isn't on Tardust, but on his 2004 self-titled album. While only about 60,000 of the 225,000 downloaded copies of Tardust were paid for, that's still twice as many sold than for the in-stores album that actually features "List Of Demands."

"I know that a lot of people who spent time with the album were like, 'I gotta get this dude some money.' They came back and paid," Williams says. "We got a slew of people who were starting to feel guilty about the amount of time they were spending dancing to the album and looked back and gave their $5. So I feel like it's been wonderful, a marvelous result for me. And at the end of the day, it's been about the exposure. Not only the exposure to me and my music, but for me, who always falls in the category of being a 'message writer,' there are a lot of people being exposed to perhaps a new way of thinking, some new ideas, and that really excites me."

The irony of his work drawing attention through an ad promoting sneakers is not lost on Williams. "It's weird, but their ads give attention to the music. You walk away thinking, 'That's a cool song,' not 'I've gotta get those shoes.' "

At the very least, this seems to give some credence to Reznor's attempted business model. If you can get a large group of people to check something out, you might get a large enough fraction to pay for it.

Saul Williams still hasn't found his niche, and he's thrilled [Chicago Tribune via Songs For Soap]