4 Times Music Leaked Before the Album Even Dropped

The internet is a world where anything is possible. People can find friends and love thousands of miles away, and we can enjoy our favorite TV and movies with the click of a button. Unfortunately, the internet and the advent of filesharing software, too, makes it easy for anyone with a computer and a strong Wi-Fi connection to be powerful enough to leak music and sensitive documents.

For more than 20 years, digital leaks have been a stain on the music world. According to a report by the Institute for Policy Innovation, since 1999, internet users have downloaded $12.5 billion worth of pirated music.

Some name journalists, others in the music industry, or industry interns and assistants as the culprits for leaks. Others cite musicians being too lax about sharing music with their friends. There’s an imbalance; while some leaks help artists, others hurt them. For some musicians, leaking music is a necessary evil to help stir buzz about their music — especially if their careers are on troubled waters — and will even go as far as to “leak” the music themselves. Other musicians are rocked by leaks, rush releasing albums, and struggling to plug the leak.

However, a solution is on the way

Here are a few times music leaked before the album debuted and a new way to avoid it.

Nas – I Am… (1999)

New York City rapper Nas had dreams of releasing a double album titled I Am… The Autobiography, a follow up to his critically acclaimed album that he hoped would further cement his status. Unfortunately, hackers had other plans. Several songs he had in the works for the album were leaked online. This discovery forced him to completely scrap his original project and record entirely new material for two separate single-disc albums.

He went on to release I Am… in April and Nastradamus just a few months later. Although the album would later be considered his second best-selling release behind ‘96’s It Was Written, at the time of I Am…’s release, the leak was said to have derailed his career. It wasn’t until 2001 and the release of Stillmatic that he regained his footing.

Madonna – Rebel Heart (2015)

One of the worst cases of an album leaking before it was released is Madonna’s 13th album Rebel Heart. The album, which explores of the Grammy award-winning singer’s personality — rebellious renegade mixed with a hopeless romantic — was leaked.

A former Israeli singing show contestant was later found responsible for the leak, having hacked Madonna and other musicians’ computers. He released 13 demo versions of songs slated to be on the then-unnamed upcoming album.

The ordeal sent Madonna into a tailspin, provoking her to change her process and completely throwing off her vision for the album. Files were no longer stored on servers and were instead hand-carried on portable hard drives, and when tracks were in production, the Wi-Fi had to be disabled. Madonna and her team even went as far as “leaking” polished versions of the songs and moving up the album’s release date.

“I wanted to… plan everything in advance,” she stated in a Billboard Magazine article. “Release the single, shoot a video, start talking about my record. And you know, prepare for the release of the entire album and have everything set up just so… But we sort of were left with no choice.”

Despite her efforts to get ahead of the leak and soften its blow, record sales were heavily impacted. Rebel Heart sold 121,000 album-equivalent units on its opening day, and by late 2016 it had finally sold 1 million units.

Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter III (2008)

2007 was dubbed the “summer of Wayne” because of prolific rapper Lil’ Wayne’s appearance on 77 songs throughout the year. For many musicians, music lovers develop music fatigue, but to the benefit of Lil’ Wayne it only sparked anticipation for a full-length album.

However, while in preparation for his album Tha Carter III, dozens of songs were leaked online. The Louisiana rapper responded by taking those songs and releasing an album called The Leak, citing that he wanted to give his fans something since they were desperate for new music that they were willing to leak it. He then delayed his actual album and went back to the drawing board.

There was a short-lived sense of victory when in May 2008, a few weeks before the release of Tha Carter III, 10-second snippets of multiple songs were leaked to file-sharing sites. The whole album leaked days later by a DJ who felt slighted by Lil’ Wayne.

The leaks and the industry seeing an 11 percent drop in albums sales weren’t enough to stop the rapper. It had little to no effect on CD sales. Tha Carter III sold 423,000 copies on its first day, edging out more popular artists like R&B artists Mariah Carey and Usher, who sold 450,000 their opening week.

Radiohead — MiniDiscs [Hacked] (1997)

While filesharing was still in its infancy, English alternative rock quartet Radiohead found themselves the victim of one of the first highly publicized leaked content incidents.

When the band was fresh off the success of their third album, OK Computer, a hacker gained access to miniDiscs belonging to lead singer Thom Yorke and the band’s cloud archive. The “collector” threatened to release 16 hours of offcuts, demos, rehearsals, and live performances recorded while Radiohead was still creating OK Computer to the public in exchange for a $150,000 ransom.

In an unexpected move, the band responded to the threats with nonchalance, instead they uploading the tracks, now known MiniDiscs [Hacked], to Bandcamp. And any money made from the 18 days the content was available for distribution and purchase was donated to the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion.

Although the leak resulted in lost revenue and removed all chance of the band officially releasing the music as an OK Computer release in the future, their response to the privacy invasion was hailed as a victory for artists everywhere, and a statement to up-and-coming pirates worldwide.

Protect Your Music with Mirada Media’s SecureMedia

Once an album leaks and gets pressed to CD or uploaded to filesharing sites, it’s impossible to stop. According to Denise Zavitson, founder and president of Mirada Media, each year, almost $10 million in revenue is lost through music piracy and nearly $50 billion within the film and television industry. Sure, there’s monetary trauma when leaks happen, but there’s something else leaks bring; emotional trauma.

When music leaks, it’s a violation of an artist’s creativity and their privacy. The music is often unfinished, never meant to see the light of day, and stolen from their private vaults. For some artists, it impacts their ability to do what they do best and for others, it derails their career. And within those leaks are also sensitive data like contracts and earnings reports. How do we fix it?

Mirada Media has a solution, SecureMedia. It’s the answer to the media and entertainment industry’s piracy problem. With the new cloud-based digital media security and governance solution, protecting your music from pirates and dishonest entertainment industry professionals is easier than ever. Artists, labels, talent agencies, actors, and studios can share sensitive documents and files with confidence, no longer fearful that their files will get prematurely released.

Contact our team to learn more about how we can protect your music and personal files.