Just about a week and a half ago, Trent Reznor surprised Nine Inch Nails fans with an entire new studio album, given away totally for free via NIN.com. How quickly did the project come together? According to a Rolling Stone interview with NIN manager Jim Guerinot, Reznor was finishing off the album mere hours before it went online. He sent the final mixes of The Slip to his Web site management at 9:30 p.m., and just after midnight the album was released online.

"This is the most fun we've ever had," says Guerinot. "We've had 19 years of training that you put a record together, you deliver it and then you wait." The single, "Discipline," was released two weeks prior, but no official confirmation on an accompanying album was made. With The Slip and the instrumental record Ghosts, Reznor has opted to prevent a leak by releasing the album digitally before a physical release. "Internet searches peak around the leak, not around the single or the album," Guerinot told Rolling Stone. "By the time the album comes out, it's done." The Slip will be released as a CD and on vinyl in July.

Guerinot, who also manages Gwen Stefani and Outkast, says he expects more artists to follow in Reznor's footsteps. "Big artists are becoming available to do this," he says. "Those who don't have to deal with labels are responding to their fan bases instead."

NIN kick off their summer tour with a headlining slot at the Pemberton Festival in Vancouver on July 25.