How do new albums get leaked?
 

Pick any major artist, and chances are that a RETAIL leak of their new album will be online about a month before it's official release.

Sometimes it takes a bit longer, like in the case of Metallica's St. Anger. I don't think a retail leak was available until about a week before it came out. The new NIN is the same way - this album is HIGHLY anticipated and it's odd how it hasn't yet made it into the hands of someone on the outside with the release date being less than a month away.

Are they starting to wait until the last minute to press them, or how does that whole process work (from the artist's master recording to actually getting pressed, etc)? I'm assuming the source of the leaks are from employees who work at those pressing places, but.. yeah, I think I need a bit more insight as to how this happens.

Video games are like this as well. GTA San Andreas was available online 2-3 weeks ahead of time, so was Doom 3, Devil May Cry 3, Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and so on.

I'm a bit behind in my magazine reading, so I just read this article in Wired this weekend: Wired 13.01: The Shadow Internet. It is more about the spread than the initial leak, but it has some information on how the data gets out.

I was reading an article of Fiona Apple's unreleased album being leaked, and it suggests that Fiona herself or the album's produced leaked it.

nice link. last page of the article, pretty much a synopsis:


as far as music goes... the powers that be have to stamp/press/make the album prior to release date. after all, reviewers get to listen to and review the album prior to release date so that we, the public, get to hear about it, and build a buzz.

when i worked at blockbuster, years ago now, we used to get albums a week or two prior to the release date... i imagine it's still the same today. so, if the album is shipped to the store 1 to 2 weeks prior to release date, and if it took about 1 week to get there, that would be 2 to 3 weeks prior to release date. give a week for actual stamping/pressing of the album, that puts it at 3 to 4 weeks prior to release date. it would seem easy for an album or two to fall of the production line, or off the truck, or be "lost in inventory"...

hmm...

yeah, i read the wired article,

mostly accurate and not completely groundbreaking ... and that is all I know about that ;)

A friend of mine and former on-air talent for a local radio station (non-clear channel, thank god) said that they used to get albums for review, pre-play, etc. up to 6 weeks (!!!) prior to release. I don't know much about the music industry, but I've known a few DJ's who liked to pirate music in my day.

If I had to make a guess, I'd say there's another point on the food chain where an album could "fall off the truck" so to speak.

Generally, They find someone who works for a Radiostation/CD company. And they get them to give them the CD's and then the pirate will rip it and put it on the Internet.