Artists are always putting their newest singles and CDs on pre-order on iTunes so right when midnight strikes on the release date, they can have the songs right away. However, this has been causing glitches recently. This has been happening specifically to One Direction. Even if you are not a “Directioner,” this could still affect your favorite artist. It started this summer when iTunes accidently released “Best Song Ever” a few days in advance when a fan pre-ordered the single. But thhe next glitch was a little bigger… Their whole album was leaked via iTunes last weekend.
While fans may be excited about the leak, the artist themselves are not. They worked hard on something for months and they didn’t even get to present it to the public the way they had hoped. Sometimes, they may wake up to finding out their album has been leaked.
Does the leak help sales, or hurt them? It could go either way. Since the leak happened on iTunes, the pre-order sales may go up in hopes that the glitch is still occurring and they can receive the songs right away. If fans get a quick listen of the songs, they may also decide they really love them and buy the deluxe version of the cd, which means more money for the artist. But it could go have an opposite effect, as well. Fans could listen to the leaked material and have enough of it. They could even illegally download them right away, which means less money for the artist. This could also lead to less tour dates and less promotional events. It may also lead to less singles in fear that the entire album could be leaked again. Do you really want this to happen to your favorite artist?
While it is hard to resist leaked material that you’ve been dying to listen to for months now, try to resist. If that fails, then enjoy the material but still do you part as a fan and buy the cd on the release date. Waiting for the release date may make you impatient but just think of how good you will feel when you get to experience the music when the artist anticipated you to. Plus, half of the fun is watching all of the promotional interviews and performances on various TV stations! Leaks may be exciting and make pre-order sales to go up, but next time you see something that is not officially released think twice before you listen to it. The artist wants to experience the release with their fans and do you really want to cheat on your favorite artist?