Will U2 Manager's Next Rant Blame Bono For Leaked U2 Tracks?
from the blame-game-come-uppance dept
In the past year or so, U2's manager, Paul McGuinness has lashed out at pretty much everyone, other than those in the music industry, for the evils of file sharing. His main target was ISPs, but also device manufacturers, search engines, social networks and many, many others. It wasn't long after this that U2 lead singer Bono more or less agreed with his manager -- though using more diplomatic language. However, as a few folks are joyfully noting, it appears that the only one to blame for the leak of U2's most recent tracks may in fact be Bono himself. Apparently, someone was passing by Bono's beach villa in the south of France and heard the stereo playing incredibly loudly with new U2 tracks, so he recorded them and put them up on YouTube.To be honest, this story has a lot of questionable elements to it, and little to back it up. So it could be entirely false. Even if it's true, it's difficult to see how the quality could be even halfway decent. Either way, though, it does show how silly it is to blame others. Instead, why not look to examples like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails who have shown that when you control the leak, it can work to your advantage in a rather massive way?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: bono, leaks, paul mcguinness, u2
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
funny since there
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
funny since there's a product red ipod
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
(red)acted
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Viral campaign?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Actual leak date
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
McGuinness - stop whining...
What? I'm not going to buy the album because I love the cell-phone quality audio with horns honking in the background? Gimme a break!
If nothing else it will get true U2 fans pumped. I know I am!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Bono played music in his own house" --> "Bono is to blame, and he's silly for blaming others for piracy" --> "Bono could learn from Radiohead and NIN".
That's weak.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This is quite a leap.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
I was hoping to see something about how Bono uploaded them to a torrent site. I think saying Bono is to blame because he had his stereo up too loud is fair. If he's so concerned with his music not escaping you'd think he'd be more careful with unreleased songs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Yes, that's why I said it seemed implausible in the post itself.
But the *point* is that leaks can come from all sorts of unexpected places -- and it's better to turn any "leaks" into your benefit rather than blaming others. That point stands.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/22595157/why_i_leaked_it_ben_folds_comes_clean_abou t_his_fake_and_real_new_album_way_to_normal
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Following Radiohead & NIN
They should fire their manager for holding them back.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]