Fiona Apple's Unreleased Album is a Hit
Fiona Apple's most recent album was finished years ago, but it has not yet been officially released. In fact, Sony made a decision to "shelve" it.
But somehow, a Seattle radio station got a copy, and the album is a hit. Fans are going crazy for the music. However, since there are no proper channels for purchase, fans are downloading the songs in droves. One report claims that 38,000 users in the United States are downloading songs from the album "Extraordinary Machine" at any given time.
There is no indication that Sony is attempting to prevent the "leak," but it is certain that people are violating the rights of Sony. While there is little doubt that downloading an unavailable song constitutes copyright violation, it will be interesting to see whether Sony enforces its copyright interest in a song that was merely sitting in storage.
If only I weren't such a goody-goody, I would download the songs and see if they're really worth all the buzz.
For more on this story, check out the following:
- Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Songs Leaked On The Radio (MTV.com)
- In Brief: Fiona, Stones (RollingStone.com)
- Who Will Free Fiona Apple? Suddenly on the Internet: A flood of unreleased bootlegs sung by a goddess. What gives? (The San Francisco Chronicle)
- The unsad tale of Fiona Apple
- Fiona Apple Is Cookin' on the Net
- MP3 Frees the Music of Fiona Apple
- REVIEWS AND COMPLAINTS-Fiona's Extraordinary Machine
Comments
If you want to change this situation, come visit us at www.freefiona.com and find out what you can do to help.
Not surprising to me. Wilco fans will recall a similar situation when Wilco attempted to distribute "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," a wonderful album deemed too experimental and unmarketable by its label.
Ironically, after the band's label dropped YHF, a small subsidiary of the SAME label relased it to critical acclaim and decent sales. The recent Wilco documentary "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" (shown at OKC Museum of Art) depicts this story and gives hope to Fiona fans like myself that another label will see the not all music purchasers draw from the TRL influence.
For the record, I've purchased YHF at least three times.