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.
Albums, 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
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.
