From Allen Cross' Blog
The Music Geek Blog
The U2 Leak: Was It Staged?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
If there's one thing I've come to admire most about U2 it's their business savvy. Having dealt with their entire organization on a variety of professional levels over the years, I'm always impressed with how together the band and their management is.
Paul McGuinness, their chief overseer an Obi-wan went it comes to money, marketing and strategy, is one of the smartest people in music.
So how did No Line on the Horizon come to be leaked 9 days before it was scheduled to go on sale in Ireland and almost two weeks before its on-sale date in North America? Could this have been...premeditated?
Think about it. U2 would have been monitoring the pre-release hype and the semi-tepid reaction to "Get On Your Boots" in certain quarters.
Why not crank everything up a notch by engaging in a little guerilla tactics on the marketplace? Why not arrange for an "accidental" release of the album through what, for most, is an obscure outlet on the Oz side of the planet?
It wouldn't take much. Getmusic
is a legitimate online seller of music. They also just happen to be the official digital portal of the Australian branch of Universal.
And to which label is U2 signed? Universal. And who owns the masters, the publishing and the copyright of all U2 songs? U2 themselves. In other words, it's there music and they do whatever they damn well please with them.
These tracks weren't pirated, either. From what I understand, they were actually purchased from Getmusic. From there, though, they were ripped and torrented about the planet, generating instant global press within four hours of The Event.
Go ahead: Google "U2 album leak" and see how many major media outlets are now following the story. The whole world is talking about No Line on the Horizon now--and that's gotta be good for business.
What's that? Why give away the music? Let's face it: once the album was released in Ireland on the 27th, we'd have seen the same sort of file-trading.
U2's whole modus operandi involves selling physical product, which is why No Line is coming in a variety of flavours and different price points. The real money will come with the world tour that'll start in a few months.
Then again, this could simply be a software error or a screw up by a tired webmaster. But then again, U2 isn't run by stupid people. This could be part of a grand master plan.
I wouldn't be surprised.
Update on the U2 “Leak”
According to those who monitor such things, No Line on the Horizon was downloaded more than 100,000 times in the first ten hours since the album first appearance online sometime yesterday.
There’s a very strong possibility that the album will be released to radio this evening (eastern time in North America).
I’m still sceptical as to whether this was a real leak or a calculated move. Then again, it’s been pointed out that U2—especially manager Paul McGuinness—have always been vociferously anti-piracy.
) with my question and it said "Who Knows". I don't think it is something we will ever get to the bottom of. 
Most bands probably can't say that.
