Leaked Music in the age of the Groundswell
If you're a fan of Ariana Grande like me, you have probably heard about the release of her upcoming new album.
On Friday, Ariana Grande is scheduled to release her sixth album, Positions. Ariana announced the album release date (October 30th) to fans just a few days back and shortly after, she dropped the debut single from the album, Positions. However, it seems as if the album was leaked just days before the release date, putting Ariana stans in a scurry.
This concept of albums “leaking” prior to their release data is not singular to Ariana. Many artists have had this happen to them in the past, such as Beyonce with her album 4. Beyonce is quoted to have said “While this is not how I wanted to present my new songs, I appreciate the positive response”. Other artists whose records have been leaked include Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Drake. Leaking music is wrong and without given permission from the owner, it is regarded as a crime as the leaker has directly stolen from the artist. Madonna has even described album leaking as “a form of artistic terrorism.”
This concept of leaking music portrays the ugly and dangerous side of the internet and social media. Once one person has the URL, esentially anyone in the world can have it. The artist loses power over their product, as it is now solely in the hands of the groundswell. Listeners are already dissecting it and posting their thoughts all over social media, stripping the artist of any control. In these situatitons, it seems as if we aren’t really considering the hard work and integrity of the artist, as this is not what they wanted nor deserved. With the power of social media and the groundswell, people are able to share the “leaked album” all across the world, potentially hurting album sales for the artist. Artists lose control over their music when it leaks. Music fans can empathize with an artist when their hard work is put out on the public domain without their permission, as it strips them of ownership and power of their music.
It’s common to see fans of an artist whose work has been leaked relay to fellow fans or the general public to not listen to the leaked album, as it doesn’t profit the artist and can even ruin possible album success, especially for those who are lesser known. People in the music industry have described how album leaks are most detrimental to artists who are on the rise, but rarely hurt album sales of well-established artists. It seems as if the big fans of artists don’t listen or stream the leaks because they don’t want to take away from album sales when the album is released.
Luckily for artists with a huge following, the leaking of albums doesn’t cause much harm, such as the case with Taylor Swift’s album 1989. Despite this, Taylor has openly discussed how leaks freak her out and she doesn’t like to talk about them or she will have a meltdown. Also, album leaks hurt many workers involved with album production more than it hurts the artist. The artist will still end up earning money regardless of the way their music is released to the public, but leaking strips them of any control. It also takes away from the excitement of an album or song release, which is important to many artists and their fanbases.
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