Record Label Freaks Over Leaks
Last night, the following email blast went out to a bunch of music writers:
SUBJECT: Animal watermark warning
Hello friends –
Sorry to write this one….but…..
Last week three tracks from Animal Collective’s new album leaked. Within minutes we were able to track the leak to an writer’s CD. That person got in more trouble than you care to hear about and was almost fired. The person was also forced to write an apology letter to an entire staff of people and the head of Domino Records along with other penance.
The watermarking of these CD’s should be noted as anyone you loan it too or any MP3’s you make will have YOUR NAME embedded in it. I would think twice before doing anything with this CD. Also I betcha didn’t know each CD costs 4.00 to watermark and is done for a reason. Please let us keep trusting you.
Watermarked advances have been going out for a few years now, and there have always been (probably apocryphal) rumors about some big-name writer getting busted for giving out promos; that said, we can’t remember the last time a label went for a public spanking, and we have to wonder what that “other penance” could be. Any more info? Drop us a line at tips@idolator.com.
(Also: Four dollars a disc?! Why didn’t we get into that racket?)
