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New U2 album makes early P2P debut

19 February 2009 13:52 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 14 comments

Some bands welcome the exposure that P2P file sharing gives their music. U2 is not one of those bands. They recently announced plans to release just one single from their upcoming album, "No Line On The Horizon" as a free download. Before they were ready to do that it seems the entire album has made it way onto P2P networks.

It apparently started with an Australian online music store putting the tracks up for sale early. Someone at the store, GetMusic, noticed and it was removed, but not before several people had managed to buy it. As you would expect torrents quickly appeared on trackers like The Pirate Bay.

This isn't the first time a U2 album has been available via P2P before its official release. In 2004 "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" appeared on the internet more than two weeks ahead of its official debut. The new album isn't slated for release until March 2.

Perhaps their management will see this as another opportunity to call out ISPs, for not spying on their customers.

Permalink to this article

U2 fanclub exclusive available on P2P (22 April 2009)

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' movie leaked one month early (1 April 2009)

80% of torrents on Pirate Bay are for legal content says defendant (23 February 2009)

U2 aims to take advantage of internet and misses (6 February 2009)

Bono blasts new songs too loud, fan records (18 August 2008)

U2's manager once again decries ISP's for not policing subscribers (4 June 2008)

U2's manager: time to end ISPs' free ride (30 January 2008)

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Discuss this article!
windsong (Junior Member) 19 February 2009 15:01
This is similar to what would happen in 1983. Someone would buy Van Halen's album and record it with a dual cassette boom box and then give to all his friends via memorex cassettes. Then of course most people would go out and buy the real deal when the memorex cassette got eaten up by the car's stereo cassette player. Then they'd make backups. Same deal here. [ + quote]
varnull (Inactive) 19 February 2009 15:03
get it downloaded.. U2 have way too much money. Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not. Welcome to the other side of the looking glass Alice [ + quote]
jony218 (Senior Member) 19 February 2009 15:28
U2 is blaming everybody for the early unauthorize release of there beloved cd, but it was a member of there "inner circle" who sold them out. Bono probably yelled at his "hired help" for not working fast enough in polishing his sunglasses and unfortunately payback is quite painful in the pocketbook. [ + quote]
ivymike (Member) 19 February 2009 15:59
That's an ugly picture of Bono I must say. Is that his Driver's License picture? [ + quote]
EricCarr (Member) 19 February 2009 16:04
I've heard one track on the new U2 album. Get On Your Boots is the crapper they are playing on the radio here. If I was to base the whole album as this being the best tune on there. I would not waste my bandwidth allowance on this piece of crap CD. [ + quote]
pensfan12 (Newbie) 19 February 2009 16:15
*Originally posted by EricCarr:* I've heard one track on the new U2 album. Get On Your Boots is the crapper they are playing on the radio here. If I was to base the whole album as this being the best tune on there. I would not waste my bandwidth allowance on this piece of crap CD. If Get On Your Boots wasent a U2 song the radio wouldnt have touched that shit. [ + quote]
blueboy09 (Newbie) 19 February 2009 17:15
Doesn't matter if U2 wanted to avoid the P2P ordeal, cause eventually songs will get leaked through the internet, and there's really no point for them to fight over this. For every cause there is an effect. [ + quote]
hikaricor (Newbie) 19 February 2009 19:41
Who would want Bono's crappy music anyway? [ + quote]
nintenut (Senior Member) 19 February 2009 21:35
U2 hasn't been good since the mid 90's... I thought they stopped releasing stuff in 2004. They would have been better off if they had, left a less tarnished memory of the band. [ + quote]
windsong (Junior Member) 20 February 2009 1:30
Just listened to this album. Only liked ONE song: Magnificent. Thats it..just one good song. Sigh. delete [ + quote]
maryjayne (Junior Member) 20 February 2009 10:57
I think I am going to download this album only so I can delete it from my HDD. [ + quote]
kingy1213 (Member) 21 February 2009 6:46
make sure u upload back 2 me b4 u delete it. [ + quote]
malcarada (Newbie) 21 February 2009 16:42
U2 singer Bono has millions and millions of Euros, download it for free, the guy is a jerk telling others to fight poverty while he baths in wealth. [ + quote]
atomicxl (Junior Member) 22 February 2009 14:34
I hate when albums get leaked. Thats the ultimate scumbag move. People spend ALOT of time and money to make this stuff. Once it's in the wild, its in the wild, but leaking something early is just like... its really low imo. I make music so I always have a totally different view on this piracy stuff. Free music isn't bad. My band has given out over 400 free 6 song CDs over the past 2 months, but I still hate the idea of people stealing music and thinking that somehow, that helps everyone. *Originally posted by malcarada:* U2 singer Bono has millions and millions of Euros, download it for free, the guy is a jerk telling others to fight poverty while he baths in wealth. LOL. If him donating money and time to charity and speaking at the UN to get funding for poor nations make him a jerk, I'd hate to think of the word that describes you. Do your actions honestly stack up to his? Even if you made it relative to income, do your actions equal out? [ + quote]