Although he just announced Nine Inch Nails' final set of U.S. gigs, Trent Reznor has some sound advice for those bands who are still in that oh-so-cute stage of infancy. In a lengthy post to the NIN forum, Reznor discusses what he thinks is a good way to proceed with your musical career. The first step is to stop thinking that any sort of profit or breaking even is going to happen with your music. "Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales," Reznor writes. "Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters."

The next -- and probably most crucial to Reznor -- would be to master the Internet and use it for your own means instead of allowing others to search you out and find your work at torrent sites. "What you NEED to do is this -- give your music away as high-quality DRM-free MP3s," he says. "Collect people's email info in exchange (which means having the infrastructure to do so) and start building your database of potential customers." So, for all the time and hard work you put into your band's innovative ukulele use and emotive lyrics about your recent breakup, your reward should be a telemarketer-style database so you can wisely promote your goods down the road. While this seems a bit sad, it's probably a good tip.

Though Josh Freese has worked for many accomplished musicians during his career -- most recently, he's worked with Devo, Weezer and the Vandals -- the talented drummer uses one of the tracks on his new solo album, 'Since 1972,' to pay tribute to his favorite former employer, ex-Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg. On the song 'Blood on Your Knuckles,' Freese honors his peer/hero in both melody and lyrics, sliding in a nod to the Replacements' classic 'Bastards of Young' with the lines, "We don't ever wanna miss the guy from Minneapolis/Take one big step and he's missing the whole first rung."

"That's where I come from, that's who I grew up lovin'. He's my favorite, without a doubt," Freese tells Spinner. Despite having known Westerberg since the start of his solo career in the early '90s, Freese -- whose resume also includes stints with the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Avril Lavigne and Guns N' Roses, among dozens of others -- admits to still getting starstruck on the track, singing the lines "Calls me every Christmas day/I never know quite just what to say/going 15 years of kinda sorta being my friend."

American fans of Nine Inch Nails may have thought they saw the last of the group, but like Lenny Kravitz sang, "baby, it ain't over till it's over." When NIN ringleader Trent Reznor announced a joint tour with Jane's Addiction earlier this summer, he made it clear it was to be NIN's last hurrah. Capping off that tour, the band performed a special late night gig at Bonnaroo that Reznor told the audience would be the band's "last show ever in the United States."

But wait -- there's more! Earlier today, Reznor posted news on NIN's official website announcing a victory lap in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, beginning August 22nd. "They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises," writes Reznor.

Eric De La Cruz, the 27-year-old whose need for a heart transplant inspired Trent Reznor to raise over $800,000, died Saturday, July 4th from his condition, severe dilated cardiomyopathy. The Nine Inch Nails fan was never able to regain his health to get the transplant.

The campaign to save De La Cruz was started after his sister, Veronica, a former CNN anchor, made pleas via the media and her Twitter account for help. Eric's need for a new heart was denied by Nevada Medicaid and private insurance companies, so it appeared his only hopes were to either get on Federal Medicare, which initially denied his request, or to pay for the highly expensive procedure out of pocket.

This year's Bonnaroo came full circle -- the original festival was heavily inspired by Phish's own solo fests and this was the year they finally played came to Manchester. In fact, they owned Bonnaroo by headlining two of its four nights. At the first set of their last performance, they even shared the stage with Saturday's headliner, Bruce Sprinsgteen. Phish frontman Trey Anastasio introduced the Boss as a childhood hero, noting Springsteen was the first concert he ever saw, before they sang 'Mustang Sally,' 'Bobby Jean' and 'Glory Days.'

With that on top Springsteen's incredible Saturday set, Nine Inch Nails performing what they claim is their last U.S. show ever, Passion Pit coming into their own as a live band, Animal Collective teasing Grateful Dead songs, the Beastie Boys bringing out surprise guest Nas for help on a new song and David Byrne curating his own stage, it's clear that Bonnaroo is no longer anything else but Bonnaroo -- a phenomenon unto itself and, clearly, the single greatest music festival in America.

Just half an hour after Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band commanded all of Bonnaroo's attention, Nine Inch Nails performed a ferocious set in front of a far-as-the-eye-could-see crowd that hit much like any of the shows they've been playing this summer on tour with Jane's Addiction. Except, of course, for three major differences: for starters, after explaining to the crowd that the band had looked at Bonnaroo's schedule and saw a number of kick-ass bands on the line-up, they realized their friends the Dillinger Escape Plan would be present and accounted for, Trent Reznor invited them to the stage "to increase the Dillinger Escape Plan's coolness" by having them sit in on the set-closing 'Wish.'

But the show had another aspect that was far more notable and, in fact, cemented Nine Inch Nails' late-night set at Bonnaroo as being one for the history books. "It just dawned on me that this is our last show -- ever -- in the United States," said Reznor after introducing his band. "Don't be sad. I'd keep going but I think I'd lose my f---ing mind if I don't stop."

Could it be? The once Twitter-happy Trent Reznor is done with social networking on the internet? Based on a lengthy post yesterday to Nine Inch Nails' official forum, Reznor says he is signing off after revealing that his two-year online onslaught was a successful marketing experiment.

"I will be tuning out of the social networking sites because at the end of the day it's now doing more harm than good in the bigger picture and the experiment seems to have yielded a result... Idiots rule," writes Reznor. "When Twitter made it's way to my radar I looked at it as a curiosity, then started experimenting. I thought it through and in light of where I was / am in my career I decided to lower the curtain a bit and let you see more of my personality. I watched some of you get more engaged because you started to realize there's a person (flaws and all) back there, and I watched some of you recoil in horror because I'm not what you projected on me. All expected."