Having offered NIN’s new instrumental opus Ghosts I-V as a free download, Trent Reznor has given his two cents on Radiohead’s similar scheme.

“What [Radiohead] did was a cool thing,” the outspoken frontman told ABC America. “But if you look at what they did, though, it was very much a bait and switch to get you to pay for a MySpace-quality stream. There’s nothing wrong with that – I but don’t see that as a big revolution [that] they’re kinda getting credit for.”

The assessment isn’t all bad, though, with Reznor conceding some pros amongst the cons. “What they did right: they surprised the world with a new record, and it was available digitally first,” he continued. “What they did wrong: by making it such a low quality thing, not even including artwork … to me that feels insincere.”

While users can download the first nine MP3s of the Ghosts collection for free from nin.com, there are other options for the committed fan. $5 gets you the full 36-song collection in a selection of formats, but for your hardcore NINers it’s all about the $300 four-vinyl, four-disc pack signed by Reznor. Not surprisingly, all 2,500 of those “ultra-premium” versions have now sold out.

As reported by The Chicago Tribune this week, Reznor maintains he’s grossed $1.6 million from orders and downloads of Ghosts I-V thus far.