Coldplay's hotly-anticipated new album has been illegally put on the internet a week before its UK and US release.
But record company EMI - whose profits fell after X&Y was delayed - said it was "kind of Ok" with the leak and insisted it would not wreck sales. The leak took place on Monday, the day copies were sent to UK radio stations and the day before it went on sale in Japan, its first country of release. "I'm not saying we condone it but I'm not saying it's a disaster," EMI said.
An EMI spokeswoman said tight security had successfully kept the album under wraps until CDs were sent to a wide number of people on Monday. It was "controlled up until the point that we couldn't control it any more", she said, describing it as "barely a leak". "We're kind of OK with it," she said. "Obviously we're not - but it could be a lot worse. The fact that we've held it back from being leaked until this point is a success, considering the Oasis album was leaked weeks ago." The music industry has battled internet "pirates" in recent years, arguing that fans are less likely to buy the CD if they have already downloaded the album for free.
Coldplay's importance to EMI was highlighted when profits fell 13% after X&Y and an album by Gorillaz were delayed. But EMI said the leak would have been "more of a concern" if the album had been pirated earlier.
"Obviously any leak is bad and we're not happy about the fact that it's already on the net," the spokeswoman said. "But to be honest, in the world we're living today, it's kind of unavoidable at certain times."
Security measures included hosting album playbacks at venues such as Abbey Road Studios for journalists and industry figures instead of sending them copies. A listening room in EMI's headquarters was equipped with iPods in locked cabinets and CDs that were sent out were labelled with a false name - The Fir Trees - to throw would-be pirates off the scent.
Coldplay themselves have not shown the highest regard for EMI's commercial fortunes. "Shareholders are the great evil of this modern world," singer Chris Martin said recently. "I don't really care about EMI. I'm not really concerned about that."
Source: BBC
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