Leaked albums irritate artists, may boost album sales

In April, a Twitter user posted a picture of himself clutching a copy of singer Ariana Grande’s fourth studio album “Sweetener,” leaking the cover image four months before its intended release date. Clearly irritated, the singer fired back a few hours later with a close-up picture of the fan’s unpolished fingernails, mockingly stating that her music is “too good for this.”

Although none of the actual songs on the long-awaited album were leaked, the cover reveal was enough to set Grande off on a Twitter rampage harsh enough to banish all those with unmanicured cuticles to their graves.

Almost all mainstream artists have experienced the threat of anonymous individuals leaking or posting songs online before their official release dates. Songs can be leaked when copies fall off trucks, or company emails are hacked, among other methods.

“It can be accidental, but once the file is available online, any individual with a copy and a cavalier attitude can anonymously post and make it available to download,” Chris Mooney, senior director of promotions and strategy at music distribution service TuneCore, told CBS News.

Whether intentional or inadvertent, according to XXL, album leaks hurt the workers involved with the album’s holistic production more than the actual artist. The artist will earn money regardless of the method their music is released to the audience.

The graphic designers creating the album cover artwork, however, the engineers mixing the records and the factory workers manufacturing the CDs all lose money and time, ultimately bearing the brunt of such leaks. It is those who primarily depend on the revenue generated from producing the album will have their work go to waste as the entire release plan is upended.

As such, some artists go to great lengths to prevent their work from being seen or heard too early. In the behind-the-scenes footage for her music video “End Game,” singer Taylor Swift explains that even her background dancers don’t know the song ahead of time. Instead, they dance to a click track, a metronome that keeps track of the beat, while Swift herself uses personal headphones.

Others are forced to release their songs earlier than anticipated in order to counteract the potential damage of a leak.

Singer Lady Gaga had a famous meltdown in 2013 after seeing a clip of her unreleased song, “Applause,” online. According to the Huffington Post, the singer took to Twitter in 2013 to fire back at those responsible for her song’s early release and to request fans to report leaks for removal, tweeting “Lord in HEAVEN WHY” and “YOU JUST COULDNT WAIT THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ONE SATURDAY.”

One tactic some artists use to protect their music from  being released early is to keep the entire album a secret.

When asked how the late singer David Bowie’s album “The Next Day” managed to escape being leaked, Claire Suddath, an entertainment reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek, said, “I think a lot of people didn’t know that he was going to release an album until right before it came out. So no one was really looking for it.”

Despite this, Mooney suggests that leaks, while they may hurt official album sales, actually increase the popularity of the given artist: the reaction over an album has been leaked generates free publicity.

A 2012 WBUR segment describing a study conducted by economist Robert Hammond of North Carolina State University supports Mooney’s view. By looking at the difference in sales between when a song is leaked versus when it is released as planned, Hammond found that album leaks can potentially benefit album sales in the future.

Junior Sanmati Nakil, who describes herself as “impatient,” certainly looks out for upcoming leaks. She doesn’t see why listening to leaked songs is such an issue, and believes it is merely a faster way to gain access to music that will eventually be released to the public anyway.

“Once [a song] has been released officially, I’ll of course listen to it on Spotify, but before that why not?” Nakil said.

After being asked if she would listen to a leaked song, sophomore Kailan Auld said, “If the release date is in a while, and if I really like the artist, I will probably listen to the song.”

Whether it’s one week or a few months earlier, as long as the internet is around, songs will continue to be leaked and famous artists will continue to be caught off guard. The ethical issues that emerge from listening to leaked albums will remain muddled on both sides of the issue as producers lose monetarily while delighted listeners, like Nakil, receive an early present.