Every artist’s worst nightmare has become a reality for Eminem. His new album is scheduled to be released on June 22. But it is now available for free online. People are already exchanging links in online forums and sending around their comments about the Detroit rapper’s latest work.
So now Recovery has been leaked online, much like what happened recently to Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later. This robs the artists of thousands of dollars even before the album is released. This is a growing problem that has a major impact on the number of albums sold. That number is nowhere near where it was just 10 years ago.
To try to prevent such a situation from happening, artists are now launching their albums faster and faster. But it is often not quick enough to prevent the leak from happening.
It is hard to say what the future holds. Will the future economic model be a voluntary contribution by potential buyers? In 2007, Radiohead put its album In Rainbows online and gave fans the choice of what they wanted to pay. Nearly 50% downloaded the whole album and did not pay a dime.