Pretty amazing, but as Al points out, only a group with the massive fanbase that NIN has (a fanbase they obtained through big-label support, like radiohead) can do this sort of thing.

I’m no fan of the big labels, but all these artists who use them to get famous and then drop them when they’re big enough to go it alone are not really helping. Radiohead would likely be totally unknown without the major label backing they had early on.

Treat people like thieves, and they’ll end up stealing from you. Treat people with respect and intelligence, and they’ll buy your stuff by the bucket-load.

On the other hand… could a band without NIN’s profile pull it off? Somewhat doubtful… part of the reason NIN sells so much of anything is that they have massive availability, and huge name recognition. Trent could release an album of farting and it would still sell very very well.