hello all.

my band just did this thing right, where, to protect ourselves from the inevitable album-leaking-before-release-day day, we asked loads of people to post up horrible messed up versions on their blogs, websites, etc. they all look like the real thing, and there's a lil text note inside that explains what it is and why we've done it.

I know dana and tubelord have done similar "false" leaks in the past, and, as far as i can tell, they didn't work as well cos most aggregator sites; filestube, rapidsearch, etc, search thru blogs and forums and the like to find links (as opposed to the actual mediafire or rapidshare pages where the links are stored)

in a few months time, those links will expire and im sure by this time next year it'll be as easy to grab as everyone elses record.

i don't want to debate whether people think this is the Right Thing To Do, we weighed up the pros and cons and made our decision.

So, my question is this: we're no way the cleverest or most resourceful people in the music industry. so how come noone has tried this before?

or have they? did it work?

i mean, i would hazard a guess that if yr say, in blink 182, then you wouldn't bother cos you have more to gain by the casual market who'll grab the album off mediafire before going to the £30 show and buying a £50 hoodie.

but for lil bands like us, who stand to gain far more from the hype generated by our hxc fanbase all listening to the release week stream, and internetting about it together at the same time, this seems like the perfect solution.

also, i know loads of bands take a waaaaaaaay stricter line on downloading, like, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT YOUR STEALING MY ART YOU OWE ME. so why havnt they tried this?

it's been bothering us (and other bands) for ages and it literally took us two spliffs and an hour to set up. for now we're viewing it as a bit of fun experimentation but, it's working.

so what, o intelligent aficionados of popular music culture, have we not thought about? cos there's always something.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIuR5TNyL8Y

thanks in advance!