drip..drip...oh shit son I think we have a leak

Leak : an accidental hole that allows something to enter or escape.
Escape is the kind of leak we are looking at today. A music leak, an album leak.
Its a dirty word in the music industry, and it can be a nightmare for many artist and labels. But recently I have seen a new trend in these leaks. They are not coming from no where. Not coming from some random source that had the album early, they are coming from the label or even the artist themselves.

Leaking and downloading in general is a tough subject I have noticed here lately. Because everyone wants the bands to get heard, but they wanna make money too. Anyone who says they don't care about money is lieing. They have to eat and they have to get to shows, so they need money. Record sales are just not doing it anymore. I can admit I have ripped songs off Myspace. But I do support the bands I download from by going to shows and buying merch.

Leaking, its a tough call in many ways if it is a good or a bad thing. From a marketing stand point its pretty great. Once a cd is leaked google hits for the album name and the artist are going to skyrocket for people looking for the CD. You are going to bring in new fans who stumble across the cd on downloading sites. But you run the huge risk of losing profit because people are not going to buy the CD. Intentional leak releases I feel should not be done until you know you have solid fan base that even though they will listen to it early are still going to go out and buy the product.

Leaking can be dangerous but from looking what leaks have done for some artist I think its a huge promotion tool. I mean both fall out boy's last albums leaked early. But what did they do? Had promotions that if you bought the cd at such and such store for a little bit more than at a record store you get something with it, like a shirt or what ever. Fall out boy can do that. they have a loyal following that they know they will sell cds.

I cant make up my mind on leaking as good or bad. I think its smart in some cases. But, people get upset about cds leaking and kids are naive thinking a artist or label would never intentionally leak.


oh well.









peace out
the nikki bird