From Beyoncé to Lana Del Rey – How 5 Popstars Reacted to Their Music Being Leaked
Leaks have affected everyone from Lady Gaga to Marina and the Diamonds...
Comin' through satellites while cruisin'
You're part of the past, but now you're the future
Signals crossing can get confusing
It's enough just to make you feel
Crazy, crazy, crazy
Sometimes, it's enough just to make you feel crazy
You get ready, you get all dressed up
To go nowhere in particular
Back to work or the coffee shop
Doesn't matter 'cause it's enough
To be young and in love, ah, ah
To be young and in love, ah, ah
Look at you kids, you know you're the coolest
The world is yours and you can't refuse it
Seen so much, you could get the blues
But that don't mean that you should abuse it
Though it's enough just to make you go
Crazy, crazy, crazy
I know, it's enough just to make you go
Crazy, crazy, crazy
But you get ready, you get all dressed up
To go nowhere in particular
Back to work or the coffee shop
It don't matter because it's enough
To be young and in love, ah, ah
To be young and in love, ah, ah
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm
Don't worry, baby
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm
Don't worry, baby
And it's enough just to make me go
Crazy, crazy, crazy
It's enough just to make me go
Crazy, crazy, crazy
I get ready, I get all dressed up
To go nowhere in particular
It doesn't matter if I'm not enough
For the future or the things to come
'Cause I'm young and in love, ah, ah
I'm young and in love, ah, ah
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm
Don't worry, baby
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm (Ah, ah)
Hmm
Don't worry, baby
It’s 2017 and, in the age of streaming and the cloud, music leaks have become an all too common occurrence.
Popstars spend countless hours working on singles and albums, only to have ‘fans’ or internet trolls leak them in advance – sometimes when they're complete before their official releases, other times when they're not ready and still in demo form.
How popstars react to this varies. Some artists take the leaks in their stride and are eager to find out what their fans think of their new music. Others are understandably hurt by it and make sure to make their frustration and disappointment known.
Here we look back on five times that popstars had their music leaked and how they reacted to it.
1. Beyoncé
I'll be your friend, I will love you so deeply
I will be the one to kiss you at night
I will love you until the end of time
I will be your baby, I promise not to let you go
Love you like crazy, now say you'll never let me go
Say you'll never let me go (say)
Say you'll never let me go
Say you'll never let me go (say)
Say you'll never let me go
Take you away from here
There's nothing between us but space and time
I'll be your own little star, let me shine in your world
In your own little universe, make me your girl
Come take my hand, I won't let you go
I'll be your friend, I will love you so deeply
I will be the one to kiss you at night (kiss you at night)
I will love you until the end of time
I will be your baby, I promise not to let you go
Love you like crazy, now say you'll never let me go
Say you'll never let me go (say)
Say you'll never let me go
Say you'll never let me go (say)
Say you'll never let me go
Baby, come on get up on it, show me that you really want it
I wanna be the one to love you, baby, let's go (woah)
Baby, let's go (woah)
I wanna provide this loving that you're giving, I ain't fronting in this love
But can you let me love you from your head to toe? (Woah)
Baby, let's go (woah)
Boy, come to me (come to me)
Let me turn your rain into sun (come to me, babe)
You don't have to worry, baby (oh, no)
I promise I'll set your heart free
Let my love into your soul
You go, I go, we go, that's all she wrote
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never (can't you see, babe?)
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never (I just wanna love you)
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never (can't you feel me, babe?)
Say you'll, say-say you'll nev-never
I just want to be with you
I just wanna live for you
I'll never let you go
Free your love to me
Come take my hand, I won't let you go
I'll be your friend, I will love you so deeply
I will be the one to kiss you at night
I will love you until the end of time
I will be your baby, I promise not to let you go
Love you like crazy, now say you'll never let me go
Say you'll never let me go (say)
Say you'll never let me go
Say you'll never let me go (say)
Say you'll never let me go
Yes - even King B has had to deal with leaks. After the release of I Am... Sasha Fierce, the global songstress took a year off to spend time with her family, enjoy her success and self-reflect. She also began to experiment musically and work on her next album: 4. However, just as Beyoncé was preparing to release 4, it leaked three weeks early.
Beyoncé responded well to the leak at the time, sending out this statement to MTV: "My music was leaked and while this is not how I wanted to present my new songs, I appreciate the positive response from my fans. When I record music I always think about my fans singing every note and dancing to every beat. I make music to make people happy and I appreciate that everyone has been so anxious to hear my new songs."
How much the leak affected the album's overall success is unkown. Nevertheless, Beyoncé completely changed her release strategy for her next album. BEYONCÉ was a surprise release and not only did it boast Beyoncé's best first week sales to date, it also changed the industry. Many other popstars opted for surprise releases in its wake. Beyoncé even did it again with Lemonade and it seems to be working for her; she hasn't had to deal with any leaks since 2011.
2. Madonna
https://instagram.com/p/wto14lGEa8/?taken-by=madonna
Not even the Queen of Pop is safe. MDNA leaked a week before its release and a whole hoard of demos for Madonna's latest album Rebel Heart were leaked online before it was even finished. As a result, Madonna released six of Rebel Heart's finished tracks immediately and scheduled the album's realse for three months later.
The Hung Up star dealt with the leaks efficiently but she made it clear that she wasn't happy about them. The superstar took to Instagram to refer to them as 'artistic rape' and 'terrorism'. While many people sympathised with Madonna, she also offended many with this comparison. It appeared to make light of both rape and terrorism and after the backlash Madonna deleted the post.
While Rebel Heart, went on to receive lots of positive reviews, Madonna expressed multiple times in interviews that she had plenty of plans for it that she didn't have time to put into action because of the leaks. Kanye West was going to executive produce it and it was going to be a double album. Hopefully Madonna won't face leaks again and she'll have time to release and present her next album as she plans to.
3.Marina and the Diamonds
After going more mainstream with her second album Electra Heart, Marina went back to her more alt-pop roots on her next album FROOT. What's more, she gave it its own unique release schedule called 'Froot of the Month'. Six months before the album's scheduled release she started to put out a song from the album every month along with its own fruit themed merch. She tweeted: "I came up with the 'Froot of the Month' strategy to enable me to release the music I wanted to, as opposed to what might work commercially."
However, just a couple months into 'Froot of the Month', the album leaked and many eager fans took the opportunity to listen to it. This didn't upset Marina though. As a fan of music herself she understood that many fans wouldn't be able to withstand the temptation of listening to her new tracks. "If you can't wait, that's okay" she tweeted. What a cutie. She then released the album a month early and it went Top 10 in the UK and the US. Not too shabby at all.
4. Lady Gaga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g4XAyESHos
Lady Gaga promoted the lead single of her third album (fourth if you separate The Fame and The Fame Monster) with reverse psychology. Gaga was one of the biggest popstars in the world in 2013 but the media had started to turn on her wacky ideas and outfits and the press were waiting to document her downfall. Well aware of this, the Bad Romance singer released a video teasing a short snippet of 'Applause' and telling fans not to buy, listen to or dance to it.
It all seemed to be part of an extremely well planned era but soon after its release the single leaked and Gaga was forced to push the release of 'Applause'. Taking to Twitter she summoned all of her little monsters and declared: "A POP MUSIC EMERGENCY IS UNDERWAY 911". She made 'Applause' available to purchase that day and it went head to head with Katy Perry's 'Roar'. 'Applause' failed to reach number one like Gaga's previous singles but it still managed to go triple platinum in the US so we doubt she lost any sleep over it.
5. Lana Del Rey
https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/887557312956686337
The latest star to be plagued by leaks is none other than Lana Del Rey. The 'Video Games' hitmaker's fourth album Lust for Life was leaked just a couple days ahead of its release this Friday. And the singer wasn't best pleased. After a fan revealed news of the leak on Twitter, Lana replied 'U little f***ers'. Nevertheless fans of Lana know that the singer is tongue and cheek with these sorts of responses. When a fan complained on YouTube that Lana was taking forever to release her Tropico film, Lana replied: "It's coming you little bitch".
Since the hilarious tweet fans of Lana have even gone on to joke that they now "finally have [their] own fandom name". And as the album is out this Friday, we're pretty the sure that the leak won't affect its sales. Lust for Life features collaborations with artists ranging from The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky to Stevie Nicks and Sean Ono Lennon, and it is already being heradled as one of Lana's best. We can't wait to hear it when it comes out tomorrow!
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WATCH MADONNA'S 'SECRET' VIDEO HERE!
Since you came into my life
You found a way to touch my soul
And I'm never, ever, ever gonna let it go
Happiness lies in your own hand
It took me much too long to understand
How it could be
Until you shared your secret with me
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret
You gave me back the paradise
That I thought I lost for good
You helped me find the reasons why
It took me by surprise that you understood
You knew all along
What I never wanted to say
Until I learned to love myself
I was never ever lovin' anybody else
Happiness lies in your own hand
It took me much too long to understand
How it could be
Until you shared your secret with me
Something's comin' over, mmm mm
Something's comin' over, mmm mm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret
Mmm mm
Something's comin' over, mmm mm
Something's comin' over, mmm mm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret
Happiness lies in your own hand
It took me much too long to understand
How it could be
Until you shared your secret with me
Mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret
Mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret
Mmm mmm, my baby's got a secret
Mmm mmm, my baby's got a secret
Mmm mmm, my baby's got a secret for me
Mmm mmm, mmm mmm, mmm mmm