If it is on the Internet this week, we will release it immediately

[RockNRollDawgie]

if the songs ironicly show up on the internet this week... then i'll still believe this was all pre-planed

Is the French policeman, Bono called, part
of this "pre-planned" marketing publicity
stunt?

 

[U2girl]

I can't believe so many fans are so cynical

hmm.......it's just weird, isn't it?

the fact that the CD hasn't been leaked yet, if of course this whole story is actually true, leads me to believe that it won't be leaked on the net, since it's been missing for over a week now, and in this day and age, i can't imagine that if the person who stole the CD had intentions of leaking it, that he wouldn't have done it withing the first 24 hours.


in the end, i think the album will be released in November like the band had planned.

What is so weird?

The songs being leaked does not necessarily mean the CD was not stolen. Apart from simply being misplaced *that can still mean someone will get a hold of it outside the U2 camp*, I think that whoever has it either:
- has no clue who U2 is and kept or threw away the CD and it will never appear again
- is not internet savy enough
- is scared to leak it, with the police being involved

The talk of Itunes makes sense; that way you can offer the album to those who download massively and to those who do it "old school" and buy the CD. Considering the tone of the article, the rumors of album being finished and the recording of a a video in France - I think the album could be pushed ahead as much as early October, with the single coming in early September at the latest.

They've got every reason tu hurry up now , which in itself would be another confirmation the stolen/lost CD story is true. What else if not (potential or real) third party leakage of songs would possibly make them speed things up?

 

[jacobus]

...don't believe what you hear...don't believe what you see...
i don't believe any of the official statements. i believe its a very clever marketing strategy hyping THE release of 2004.
probably they all roll on the floor laughing

 

[shaun vox]

hey if janet jackson can show here boobies to hype her album then u2 can do this(stolen cd) i think its true(the cd got away) but you never know.

 

[Jim]

...don't believe what you hear...don't believe what you see...
i don't believe any of the official statements. i believe its a very clever marketing strategy hyping THE release of 2004.
probably they all roll on the floor laughing

Why would U2 want to do this? I don't see it. The album getting leaked would mess everything up. There will be TV appearences, Magazine articles/interviews, video production, marketing strategies all scheduled in line with the October/November release. There will be enough hype generated at that time believe me without having to stage some crackpot hoax. Plus they would be acting ILLEGALLY if they, as you suggest, lied to the police and initiated police involvement purely to facilitate 'hype'.

I think U2 have dealt with this very well - the message to the person with the CD is loud and clear, what they did was THEFT and to publish the album on the web would be THEFT and Universal would do everything they could to trace and deal with the source.

I believe U2 have more respect for their fans to even consider pulling the wool over our eyes in such a way.

 

[u2 sweetestgirl]

Why would U2 want to do this? I don't see it. The album getting leaked would mess everything up. There will be TV appearences, Magazine articles/interviews, video production, marketing strategies all scheduled in line with the October/November release. There will be enough hype generated at that time believe me without having to stage some crackpot hoax. Plus they would be acting ILLEGALLY if they, as you suggest, lied to the police and initiated police involvement purely to facilitate 'hype'.

I think U2 have dealt with this very well - the message to the person with the CD is loud and clear, what they did was THEFT and to publish the album on the web would be THEFT and Universal would do everything they could to trace and deal with the source.

I believe U2 have more respect for their fans to even consider pulling the wool over our eyes in such a way.

A great post!

We must also consider the fact that this is embarrassing to U2 and the LAST thing that they would've wanted to happen.

I doubt they will rush the release of the album though because no artist would put out unfinished/rushed material just because some Jack might put it all over the net.

The band will be REALLY sad about this whole escapade!
Give Edge a good spanking - I'll volunteer!

 

[Liesje]

I sincerely doubt that this was planned. You don't have police interrogate tons of people as part of a stupid marketing scheme and if you do, you suck and I'm not buying your album.

Personally, if I were the one that stole it, I doubt I'd leak it....and I'd NEVER give it back! It would be mine and mine only forever and ever.....

 

[elfyx]

There is a thread over at slashdot.org (news for nerds, stuff that matters), a geek website about it.

http://slashdot.org/articles/04/07/23/0230203.shtml?tid=141&tid=98&tid=95

It is actually interesting to read some of the responses such as:

"What's sad is it's the "real" fans that are going to be hurt by this. The fans that care enough about only hearing the finished product... to me this is like U2 pissing on their fans, all in the interest of making a few extra bucks."

If this is all a publicity stunt, then judging by many of the over 400 posts, then it may backfire. The reaction certainly isn't positive, and often cynical. Of course, some posts are simply trolls, but still interesting to get a view of what "regular" and non-fans alike think of u2 and all of this album stuff.

 

[Liesje]

"What's sad is it's the "real" fans that are going to be hurt by this. The fans that care enough about only hearing the finished product... to me this is like U2 pissing on their fans, all in the interest of making a few extra bucks."

Yeah, which is why I'm not spending money on it if this is all a hoax. I'm not using frickin iTunes! Just give me an actual CD in late November then....

 

[silenus]

I'm not gonna d/l it eahter from Itunes
and paying 2 for a CD.
Band wants to bring out CD and tour but record company e.o. (PM,...) says not...
Wait for another half year...= more money
Band doesn't want to wait this long but can't do anything else 'cause of contracts
and CD gets "lost/stolen" and hopes someone puts it on the net so everything gets a bit speed up...
It's like saying:
Fuck the company!!!
Free the music!!!

GO ALBUM GO !!!

 

[MrBrau1]

I love this. Someone steals from the band. Band respond. People call U2 greedy and evil. Who the fuck says all you puritanical fans have to download it from ITunes? Wait three weeks and buy it in the shop. To fans, what's the difference if it's on Limewire or ITunes? Most people have said they wouldn't download it out of respect for the band, that they want that "new CD" experience. How does any of this change that?

 

[EPandAmerica]

The album (music wise) has been finished for some time, fucking hell they had a big party in Dublin BEFORE the fiasco in France. They were in France to do videos, set in stone a track listing etc...
They will NOT be releasing music that is unfinished.

Hoax or not, we all know that Edge and Bono have no problem with downloading music. I don't think they want the whole album out there for the taking, but putting songs on Itunes is right up their alley. Their record company and the execs that work there might be against any downloading of music, so if anyone is getting pissed on it's them, NOT the fans.

I remember Bono's speech for Chris Blackwell's induction to the RRHOF. Big corporate execs kinda leave a bad taste in his mouth and he is not AFRAID to say so.


If the cd was really swiped or really just misplaced then U2 are brilliant enough to squeeze every ounce of free press they can get to create a buzz, and turn the whole thing around to their advantage.

Either way I will put down my cash and buy it and anything else they would like to sell, because I will be a U2 fan for the rest of my life.

 

[camiloj]

The album (music wise) has been finished for some time, fucking hell they had a big party in Dublin BEFORE the fiasco in France. They were in France to do videos, set in stone a track listing etc...
They will NOT be releasing music that is unfinished.

Hoax or not, we all know that Edge and Bono have no problem with downloading music. I don't think they want the whole album out there for the taking, but putting songs on Itunes is right up their alley. Their record company and the execs that work there might be against any downloading of music, so if anyone is getting pissed on it's them, NOT the fans.

I remember Bono's speech for Chris Blackwell's induction to the RRHOF. Big corporate execs kinda leave a bad taste in his mouth and he is not AFRAID to say so.


If the cd was really swiped or really just misplaced then U2 are brilliant enough to squeeze every ounce of free press they can get to create a buzz, and turn the whole thing around to their advantage.

Either way I will put down my cash and buy it and anything else they would like to sell, because I will be a U2 fan for the rest of my life.

I agree 100%

 

[ramblin rose]

I agree 100%

Me too.

 

[martha]

hey if janet jackson can show here boobies to hype her album then u2 can do this(stolen cd) i think its true(the cd got away) but you never know.

I wish it had been the other way around. A stolen Janet Jackson cd (stolen and completely gone) and U2 showing their boobies for publicity.

 

[U2girl]

There is a thread over at slashdot.org (news for nerds, stuff that matters), a geek website about it.

http://slashdot.org/articles/04/07/23/0230203.shtml?tid=141&tid=98&tid=95

It is actually interesting to read some of the responses such as:

"What's sad is it's the "real" fans that are going to be hurt by this. The fans that care enough about only hearing the finished product... to me this is like U2 pissing on their fans, all in the interest of making a few extra bucks."

If this is all a publicity stunt, then judging by many of the over 400 posts, then it may backfire. The reaction certainly isn't positive, and often cynical. Of course, some posts are simply trolls, but still interesting to get a view of what "regular" and non-fans alike think of u2 and all of this album stuff.

"At some point after the joshua tree U2 turned into a band that plays love songs and I can imagine their only "fan base" is 40 year old housewives who listen to them as they do the dusting. " - my favorite quote from that site

I read that thread and I don't think the anti-Itunes people have a case. Out of millions of U2's fanbase around the world, I think a farily small amount is internet savy and the vast majority still buy the CDs. What's 3 weeks anyway? That way, both U2 - and more importantly - their fans win either way they choose to get the CD.

Like someone in that thread said: bands can either roll over or compete with file sharing (illegal) sites. I think that in the future, a release on both legal file sharing services and the regular CDs will be customary. If U2 is the first major band to do this, way to go.

 

[Tomer]

you just got Punk'd!

 

[Anirban]

it's true that most people are not very internet savy ... but i-tunes is so simple to use a lot of people who don't know how to do anything else can use it. i know people with i-pods who would have trouble figuring out how to register and post on this forum.

 

[Anirban]

i would also go as far as to say internet savy people tend to dislike i-tunes ... most people i know still use fire sharing networks and it's the people who don't know much about it and are "scared" that they will get sued that use i-tunes.

 

[ZigZag]

Didn't U2 just shoot the video to their new single not that long ago? Who the hell shoots a video for a single THREE MONTHS before it comes out?

 

[lew07]

in the article, it also said that the CD was stolen during a BLENDER magazine photoshoot. which means they are already doing promotions for the album, and it once again mentioned the empty swimming pool, that's gotta be the theme.

 

[elfyx]

not to sidetrack the topic, but what does everyone think the imagery and symbolism of the empty swimming pool is?

back to the topic though, i'm not surprised they are shooting the video already. the single was tentatively slated to come out in september, and while music video production is fast, it's already almost august which gives them a little over a month only.

i've got so many mixed feelings about all of this album, leak stuff. i mean, just a couple of weeks ago, there was virtually nothing going on. now all of a sudden, we have either a cheap publicity stunt or a potentially disastrous leak which has obviously forced u2 to change their plans up quite a bit.

releasing the album on itunes will definitely blur the line of the album release. of course not everybody wants or has the means to purchase the album via itunes, which means that instead of a single collective release, we would have a fractured release where you can only hear it "early" if you are willing to pay and use itunes.

i guess in the end, it doesn't matter all THAT much; what matters is the music.

 

[bathiu]

not to sidetrack the topic, but what does everyone think the imagery and symbolism of the empty swimming pool is?

...well... being in an ampty swimming pool... you kind of have a... hmm, "strange" feeling... so if the album is realy titled "Vertigo", this kind of cover would work well, IMO...

 

[Popmartijn]

it's true that most people are not very internet savy ... but i-tunes is so simple to use a lot of people who don't know how to do anything else can use it. i know people with i-pods who would have trouble figuring out how to register and post on this forum.

However, at this moment iTunes is only available to people living in the USA, Germany, France and the UK. So most of the world is still excluded.

 

[U2dork]

Hi! I don't mean to continue to drag this away from the topic but in regard to the swimming pool thing---
I don't know how familiar you are with Anton's work, but he often uses backgrounds that have a lot of texture. Many swimming pools have a stucco type finish to the walls. Others have interesting tile work. I think when you see the images, you won't realize that they're shot in a pool. I think we do know they'll be super cool, 'cause Anton rocks!

Ok, carry on....

 

[Screaming Flower]

I wish it had been the other way around. A stolen Janet Jackson cd (stolen and completely gone) and U2 showing their boobies for publicity.

martha

 

[UKTan]

Hi! I don't mean to continue to drag this away from the topic but in regard to the swimming pool thing---
I don't know how familiar you are with Anton's work, but he often uses backgrounds that have a lot of texture. Many swimming pools have a stucco type finish to the walls. Others have interesting tile work. I think when you see the images, you won't realize that they're shot in a pool. I think we do know they'll be super cool, 'cause Anton rocks!

Ok, carry on....

I think you've made a very good point there U2dork. Maybe we tend to analyse things a little too much sometimes

Sometimes I think all this trying to second guess what the band are up to is nothing but a way to give yourself a headache

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

Hey, those of you who are wondering why U2 would shoot a promo video and start talking to music mags this early in the process, the fact is is that they have been doing interviews and promoting the new album for some time with these magazines. I guarantee you that at least two of the stories that come out will be "exclusive" interview from the studio, during the making of U2's new album.

Also U2 is probably filming a couple of videos for either the same song, or the second single. U2 has filmed videos many months in advance of their release, so that is nothing to get too excited about.

They are probably trying to wrap up business before they take a holiday and then come back and get into the promotion of the album come the Fall.

 

[U2 addict]

I remember Bono's speech for Chris Blackwell's induction to the RRHOF. Big corporate execs kinda leave a bad taste in his mouth and he is not AFRAID to say so.

What did he say in that speech, can someone please tell me?

 

[victor_f]

the album is planned to be released in november because marketing issues and of course their vacation.

once it's released they will must start the promotional performaces all over the world.

my doubt is if they release it without going on vacation can we expect a huge and long world tour?