Leaking Un-Officially Released Music: A Marketing Ploy or Honest Mistake?

The internet is a world where anything is possible.

People can find friends and love thousands of miles away, and we can enjoy our favorite TV and movies with the click of a button.

Unfortunately, the internet and the array of file-sharing software also makes it easy for anyone with a computer and an internet connection to leak music and sensitive documents.

Who is to blame?
Some name journalists, other parties in the music industry, or industry interns and assistants as the culprits for leaks. Others cite musicians being too lax about sharing music with their friends.

While some leaks help artists, others hurt them.
For some musicians, leaking un-officially released music is a necessary evil to help stir buzz about their music, especially if their careers are on troubled waters. Some artists will even go as far as to "leak" the music themselves.

Other musicians are terribly shaken by leaks leading them to rush to releasing albums, in an attempt to plug the leak.
 
Leaks are often difficult for some artists to overcome psychologically because they represent violation of their privacy and their creativity.

By the time an album is ready, funds will have been spent on travel, studio time, general band expenses among others.

Leaking this album means there is a chance for not recovering these funds, unless the leak is identified and plugged before any real damage is done.

For the sake of realising how deep such leaks have penetrated Africa, there are reports of Wizkid's latest album 'Made In Lagos' having been leaked before the official release date. The African superstar supposedly got ahead of this by moving up the release date. The album currently has an unmatched success interms of album sales and streams on the continent.


Also, the current news is that one of Davido's songs to be featured in his upcoming album in which he featured Nicki Minaj has also showed up online.


In other parts of the world, even successful artists have not been spared, the most notable ones include:

1. Rihanna - 'Anti' (2016)
The 13 songs first appeared, apparently by mistake, on a streaming service. The streaming service took down the page for the album in its store, but fans who acted quickly enough were able to save the music, with some even posting clips on Twitter.


2. Madonna - Rebel Heart (2015)
She tried to soften the blow of this leak by moving up the official release date but global sales took a hit nevertheless.


3. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III (2008)
As you may expect, Lil Wayne's story is not a sob story.
While in preparation for this album, dozens of songs were leaked online. The rapper responded by taking those songs and releasing an album called "The Leak", claiming that he wanted to give his fans something since they were desperate for new music that they were willing to leak it.
He then went ahead to work on a fresh album with the same name "Tha Carter III". This too was leaked by a DJ who felt disrespected by the Hip-Hop star.
Fortunately, this album sold successfully, despite the leak.


4. Nas - I Am (1999)
This caused him to scrap his entire work and record fresh music. It reportedly crippled his career.


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