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LCD Soundsystem Beg Fans Not To Leak New Album, But Too Late

Two nights ago, LCD Soundsystem played a secret show in New York. On stage, frontman James Murphy said that fans could copy their new album, but pleaded with anyone in the audience who may have an advance copy not to leak it before the release date. Unfortunately the plea either fell on deaf ears, or was just made in the wrong place to the wrong people.

happeningAlbums, movies, TV shows, software, games and just about anything that can be digitized have been leaking out onto the Internet for a long time now.

Over the last 10 years there has been a growing tendency for those affected to acknowledge that leaks happen (rather than pretend that they don’t) and increasingly news of leaks have made big headlines

However, as with all ‘new’ phenomena, leaks have become so common that it’s pretty much taken as fact that everything will leak in some way or another – it’s just a question of when.

While bands like BuckCherry were more than happy to leak their own music in order to gain some publicity, others aren’t so keen for their material to end up on the Internet, particularly at a time of someone else’s choosing.

It seems that LCD Soundsystem is one such band. According to NME, two nights ago the band played a secret gig at New York’s Webster Hall, which was part of a drive to mark the band’s return to the live circuit.

After playing tracks from earlier albums, the band played some songs from their new album “This Is Happening” which is due out on May 17th. Then frontman James Murphy made an unusual request to those in attendance.

“If you got a copy of the record early and you feel like sharing it with the rest of the world, then please don’t,” he said on bended knees to the 1,500 fans present.

“We spent two years making this record and we want to put it out when we want to put it out. I don’t care about money – after it comes out, give it to whoever you want for free but until then, keep it to yourself,” he added.

LCD Soundsystem Leak

LCD Soundsystem

As can be seen from the above screenshot, the album has already appeared on at least one private tracker and it won’t be long before it leaks to others and onto the wider Internet.

Although Murphy will undoubtedly be disappointed at this leak, he should take comfort that the band’s fans will be supportive of them and their forthcoming gigs will be filled to capacity. Hopefully they will also pick up some new fans.

As ever though, the biggest question is who leaked the advance copy? The smart money is on an industry insider, as usual.

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  • Andrey

    Nice one.

  • Unauthorized Content Consumer

    Reverse psychology.

  • Hans pandacunt

    who?

  • 4

    4 :)

  • Bill

    I’m off to see them in a couple weeks and was really hoping the album would come out before then but they pushed back the launch date. Gutted. Might have to snatch a copy of this.

  • r3loaded

    “As ever though, the biggest question is who leaked the advance copy? The smart money is on an industry insider, as usual.”

    This is exactly the message we should be sending out to the mainstream non-techy members of society.

  • Anon

    That’s a real shame that people couldn’t wait. If there is one respect to be haved by fans is to wait until the band want’s it released.

  • hazbhahazbhazhazbhagf

    I could care less for LCD soundsystem but this article made me loose 23,7 seconds of my life and put it in my queue.

  • Axxo Rox

    why are they so worried about when it is released. if it is ready to go just let them damn thing free.

  • Anonymous

    Agreed with UCC. This is definitely reverse psychology.

  • neostyles

    Yet more proof that pirates couldn’t care less about artists. All they care about is downloading everything in sight.

    So who was saying that pirates buy music? Yeah, im sure someone who can’t even abide by a simple request is going to be willing to shell out $20 for a CD.

  • efwefr

    never heard of LCD soundsystem till now… and they say piracy is bad…

  • Moe1210

    LCD Soundsystem have now released this early on their website because it was leaked.

    AMAZING ALBUM! Buy it if you like it.

  • Anonymous

    LCD what? who? nice strategy.

  • A Moose Man

    hope it’s better than the first album which I have debated deleting from my library b/c it can be annoying when played on random

  • Rboy

    This is the stupidity of the recording industry. They need to get with the technology and stop releasing f’ing alblums or cds and just release mp3s when they are ready.

    Problem solved retards. The point of the internet is make information and all digital media available instantly. Asking for something not to be released is like peeing in the wind and expecting not to get wet.

    If copyright holders want any respect from this crowd they need to release stuff instantly online and at reasonable cost. And if they had any brains they would beg for sharing as way to market their stuff. I don’t know when the copyturdbrains will get a clue.

  • hmm

    i understand that was his request and I would of respected it..

    tis a shame.

    but you gotta wonder.. if its not about the money.. why?

  • razor911

    aha! is that screenshot from waffles.fm?

  • Anonymous

    f** that, they need to keep releasing CD’s. To me, anything purely digital is not worth anything. This is why I will never buy any movie, album, or game thats only a file. I want a physical product. Whether it be a disk, flash drive, or vinyl record.

  • duane

    If the artists don’t want me to leak their music, then fair enough, I won’t leak their music. If they sent me a friendly DMCA instead of asking nicely, I would make personally sure it appeared on every website on the internet.

  • Lucky Man

    I don’t think any black ppl gonna listen LCD Soundsystem… since if they don’t want their music leaked then don’t bother asking ppl to be their fans if they don’t want to be like that popular. it would be like un-existed artists..

  • lol

    Sounds like a viral.

    Not waffles or what, maybe it’s trancetraffic.

  • Anonymous

    @16,20

    Looks like TorrentLeech to me.

  • Sorry Dude

    hxxp://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5496180

    The medium is the message.

  • Matt

    either a: reverse psychology or b, stupid.

    of course people are going to share the stuff: they’re fans!

  • Riiight

    Nope it isnt on TL yet.

    Now im getting pretty curious. What tracker is that?

  • Anon

    What type of music is it ? The article fails to say this

  • Hangman

    Did he really expect the record not to be released after what he said? What a smart guy.

  • nom

    cleaver marketing thar

  • missingxtension

    Well this is one of those cases where i think the album should not be leaked. Like he said its not about the money, its maybe more to do with the debut.

  • nom

    This Is Happening is the third album from LCD Soundsystem. The album will be released in the UK on May 17, 2010. The first single is Drunk Girls.

    The album was recorded over the course of 2009 and early 2010 and, according to James Murphy, will be the last album he will release as LCD Soundsystem.

    No. Title Length
    1. “Dance Yrself Clean” 8:46
    2. “Drunk Girls” 3:44
    3. “One Touch” 7:47
    4. “All I Want” 6:43
    5. “I Can Change” 5:50
    6. “You Wanted a Hit” 9:12
    7. “Pow Pow” 8:25
    8. “Somebody’s Calling Me” 6:55
    9. “Home” 7:53

    Its on What.cd

  • redbaron

    Who the hell is LCD Soundsystem?
    Oh, well. Will download and hear. :D

  • Brandon

    Nice marketing ploy. Here is a copy of our unreleased album. Don’t give it to anybody. I sure this idea will be copied…

  • antiantipiracy.blogspot.com

    See? I didn’t know about them. Now I do. Viva la file-sharing.

  • Random Dude

    Looks like this was released on torrentech. I’ll download a copy… why not.

  • Brandon

    I didn’t know about them either. Now a fan…

  • apathy inc

    @ nostyles:

    you are an idiot and a buffoon..

    why do you think that you are smart enough to ‘know’ what ‘pirates’ will do in any kind of scenario..

    i dont know about pirates, as i’ve never met one, but file sharers are PEOPLE, and it is not possible to predict what massive groups of people will do on an individual basis. Cleary, it is possible to pretend that it is, as you have demonstrated..

    you are now my property..

    keep flapping those gums ignorantly, and perhaps you will convince yourself that you are right about something…perhaps

  • Sendaii

    LCD Whosystem? Am I meant to know who they are? I’m not trying to disrespect the band here, I’ve seriously never heard of them and I’ve heard of a lot of obscure bands.

    Still, they shouldn’t leave their music lying around a studio somewhere and expect someone not to leak it. If I were them, I’d watch all of the computers used in the production process like a hawk, store all of the raw and completed files on an external hard drive and keep that drive under lock and key in a fireproof safe that only one person in the band know the combination to. And yes, I’m serious. If they don’t want their music to leak, they need to do more than just beg their fans, who probably aren’t responsible anyway.

  • Phil

    @neostyles: I download and upload albums all the time. It’s the 21st century, this is how information is disseminated. I’ve discovered so much incredible music over the last few years thanks to filesharing, and I’ve bought more CDs and vinyls than ever before.

    The reason record sales are down is because the driving force behind the record industry has always been pop garbage like Britney Spears, The New Kids On The Block, disco, etc, where albums generally have a couple of hits and a ton of filler. Now that people can download the two “good” songs, they have no reason to buy the rest of the filler. Pirates may be ripping off the music industry, but the music industry has been ripping off EVERYONE for the last 50 years.

  • Anonymous

    If anybody played Burnout Revenge, these are the guys who made the “daft punk is playing at my house…my house” song.
    yeah. shitsux.

  • anonymous

    yup its made its way to demonoid, has alot of seeds aswell

  • apathy inc

    …oh, and that song really did suck anon. i guess these guys can blame their inevitable failure on pirates sometime in the near future. how fun.

  • That guy

    “its not about the money”? don’t lie, its always about the money.

  • Unauthorized Content Consumer

    Open comment to LCD Soundsystem:

    Try a more open business model. Let fans and curiosity seekers consume your digital content. Track in which countries you are popular. Tour relentlessly and make lots of money from ticket sales and direct product sales. There is no money to be made in CD sales. Let people fall in love with your digital offerings, work and tour relentlessly for the next five years, hoard ank bank your earnings and I garantee you that you can probably retire and only work when you want to.

    Never attack your fans, and be willing to work and tour your ass off enjoying what you love the most…making music and feeling the love from your audiences.

    Don’t bitvh about it…just do it and strike while the irons hot. You may never get any chances again.

  • neostyles

    This is the stupidity of the recording industry. They need to get with the technology and stop releasing f’ing alblums or cds and just release mp3s when they are ready.

    And that would solve what problem exactly? People already steal artist’s work.. are you mad at them for not making it more convenient to steal?

    download and upload albums all the time. It’s the 21st century, this is how information is disseminated. I’ve discovered so much incredible music over the last few years thanks to filesharing, and I’ve bought more CDs and vinyls than ever before.

    I hate to break it to you, but albums don’t just grow on trees. They are there because of people’s hard work. And they deserve to be paid for it. You would too if you ever did any hard work.

    Let me get this straight.. Being able to do something makes it okay? Cool, I want my neighbor’s TV!

    This isn’t file sharing. None of this has any remote similarity to sharing, in one form of the word or another. You aren’t lending people something that belongs to you. You are taking someone else’s stuff for your own benefit.

  • AAIP.Fucker

    Obviously that’s just what they wanted to happened as being “Shared” aka leaked.

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  • Ninja

    If it wasn’t reverse psychology it worked wonders! And I had never heard about them before so huge publicity lol.

    I think their will should be respected even more because they said it was ok to copy the albums for free. But c’est la vie, maybe it was better that way for their success. Considering it wasn’t reverse psychology…

    @ Neotroll: he said he didn’t care about the money. I mean, look what publicity they’ll be having for their next performances… O wait, wasn’t it you that told us artists actually lose money with live performances? Man, now I’m feeling guilty for all those people who downloaded the album. In fact, LCD is a hell of an altruist group if they let their fans copy their work… /sarcasm

  • Cory

    @44, i think you underestimate how much some people still buy CDs and Vinyl. i know i certainly buy a lot.
    i understand that wasn’t exactly the point of your message, but just saying.

  • Jimmy

    Which tracker is it?

    mmmmmm Waffles

  • Joey Frateno

    Yes, we get it, music leaks. Good story, but stop posting screenshots of our lovely recipe-sharing site!! You are endangering it!

  • Mark

    Uh, waffles.fm and what.cd already blew it by being wide open and out there for everyone when they were just getting started up. It’s FAR too late to try and hide now. It’s highly unlikely that there AREN’T already some folks from law enforcement and/or industry insiders on the site. Should’ve concentrated on security from the beginning.

  • Anonymous

    More proof that piracy doesn’t equal a lost sale.
    Pirates will obviously download any crap no matter how bad it is. An excuse to eat up hard drive space probably.

  • edit

    First off, for all the “I’ve heard of all the obscure bands but I’ve never heard of LCD Soundsystem” comments, you need to remember that TorrentFreak often has quite a UK focus. LCD Soundsytem are not tiny or obscure here.

    Secondly, I do see a difference between downloading a released album and downloading a leak. Once something is commercially available, you can choose whether to buy it or copy it. Downloading something that is not even for sale is data-theft, pure and simple.

    Of course, whoever made the leak is the real bad-guy, but still, I do feel a certain respect for artists over leaked material.

  • AnarchyNow

    I don’t see what’s wrong with leaking an album in mp3, mp3 is a pile of shit, like AM radio and nobody should ever be prosecuted for mp3s btw.
    If the album leaked in flac, people could “complain” but I’ve never really seen that.

  • AnarchyNow

    I don’t see what’s wrong with leaking an album in mp3, mp3 is a pile of shit, like AM radio and nobody should ever be prosecuted for mp3s btw.
    If the album leaked in flac, people could “complain” (though there’s absolutely no reason to) but I’ve never really seen that.

    Oh and btw who are these guys? Maybe they leaked it themselves to make a buzz! :D

  • Whatever

    @37
    Dont bother, neocon doesn’t have an own mind, he’s just part of a hive linked together with other MAFIAA parts they all think the same and have the same personality all the time. The idea that in a crowd of 1500 people there are 1500 personalities is not possible for the hive.

    Also, like the article already mentioned, it is also very possible that none of them leaked it but that it was done by an insider.

    Conspiracy mode…
    I could go a step further that it may also have been a deliberate effort to make filesharers look bad (wouldn’t be the first time). The neocons were then just waiting to comment on it because they knew what the plan was.

  • TerribleTony

    Admit it TF, they paid you for this piece! :p ;)

  • asa

    Thast’s actually quite sad, imo

  • Mike

    “We spent two years making this record and we want to put it out when we want to put it out. I don’t care about money – after it comes out, give it to whoever you want for free but until then, keep it to yourself,” he added.

    I’d respect his wish – moslty due to the “after it comes out, give it to whoever you want…” part.

    I can’t help but cynically feel that this was a marketing ploy. Love this band. Seen them live and they rocked. Loving the new album too ;)

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  • Sendaii

    @53 edit: I’m from the UK and I’ve never heard of them. What type of music do they play?

  • TerribleTony

    @59 But how can he say that when clearly he [i]doesn’t[/i] have control over when he can release his own music? That decision is made by the label. Or “when the distribution channels and manufacturing plants have the files and the money, then you can release, not before.”

    Funny that they fail to realise that they no longer have to support this crazy physical distribution system. If you want to sell CDs, grab a few packs of 50 and burn off your tracks and sell at your concerts. Guaranteed better money than the standard model.

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  • no name

    “never heard of LCD soundsystem till now… and they say piracy is bad…” me too

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  • EOTW

    I’ve been a little meh on their first two records. Some good tracks but nothing blowing me away. DL’d this one from the ‘noid the other day and was BLOWN AWAY. A seriously GREAT record. my 2nd fave after the new TMOE, which leaked 6 weeks before it was released this week. Gotta love the web. you feel me?

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  • Kaliayev

    I saw them back in 07 and I do not remember Murphy giving me a free album. I think I got a free button though. Joy!

    If Murphy didn’t want it leaked, he shouldn’t have been so generous to a crowd of New York hipsters. “Losing his edge” indeed.

  • promotemetal.blogspot.com

    most of the ppl posting here never heard of these guys (including myself) but now it seems most have lurked the internet for more info. I see what you did there…

  • blackman

    @53 im from the Uk and ive never heard of these guys, they seem kinda obscure and tiny

  • Cozthebrave

    Great move from Mr Murphy and co! Any publicity around an album launch is good but this has caused more people to hear their music. Even if no-one buys it if they like it, they may go to see them live. I have been a fan of LCD Soundsystem for years and will buy it when it comes out but in the meantime…..

  • anon

    Why’s everyone under the impression LCD Soundsystem/James Murphy are obscure or small?

    Dude owns one of the hippest record labels in the world, writes scores for films, headlines music festivals on either side of the Atlantic, writes music for the likes of Britney Spears, their tours sell out in minutes, etc…

    He’s got enough money to only work when and where he wants to. I respect him asking not to leak the album before it’s release date, but have no idea why he wants the world to wait till then if after everyone’s been given a green light to share it with everyone?

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