ApproximatelyInfinite

I'm not sure about how journalists get to listen to these things, but yeah, I bet it's under pretty tight restrictions, like in certain places and at listening parties, not in their own offices and stuff. However, ETIAW was on radio first, and then released DIGITALLY a few days later. By the time the actual CD came out, it had already been up on iTunes and the radio. Releasing things digitally seriously cuts down on opportunities to be leaked. Is it still possible for digital-only things to leak? Sure, it happens a lot, but the people that have access to those files before their release or before their first radio plays are often much less likely to leak things, as their careers are on the line. If a journalist or sound engineer or radio DJ leaked something, they'd never get hired to do those kinds of jobs again if they were found out. That's not to say people that work in factories or shipping services necessarily run less risk with concern to their jobs, but I think it's a somewhat different kind of risk, especially if you're just jamming a CD in your pocket off a belt or from a box and going home with it, vs. taking it from a magazine/radio office where it might be more missed. That sounds kind of bad--I'm having a hard time phrasing what I mean there. My overall point is that releasing something in physical format at the same time as digital format definitely increases the likelihood of leaking, as has been proven over the years. Re: Christmas Lights: it wasn't really a single, and it also wasn't released in physical format. I'm not trying to say singles aren't highly anticipated, because they are, especially in this day and age where singles are often more valued than albums. But without physical formats, and without the huge promo buzz that's put around albums, moreso than singles, albums are often something people have more of an eye on to leak. Without staying in touch with music news or an artist specifically, like many of us are with Coldplay (or really in touch with the radio etc), I think a lot of more casual music fans aren't AS aware of singles coming out before they happen as they are with albums. That's kind of a baseless theory, though :shrug:

It's really whole albums that are more likely to leak than EPs because they're more anticipated and people know what to look for. Because that was released digitally, it's harder for it to leak, because most leaks happen in CD production as someone's recently said. That said, it's not like it never happens, either--Prospekt's March leaked, for example (but that was also released in physical format). Still, the fact that the ETIAW EP didn't leak really doesn't mean anything for the album to me :shrug: Early October for CD production, I think. A lot of album leaks happen 2-3 weeks before, I think because that's when they really start to hit the factories. And free streaming on websites often happens BECAUSE albums leak in the first place--that was the case with VLV, and several other albums this year alone :D. If it hadn't leaked somehow, I wonder if they would have streamed it at all. The thing about them not being able to access the song files kind of goes out the window after hand-in...several people need to access the files to be able to get them ready for release...not to mention all the journalists etc that get to hear it early, PLUS the contest winners at ACL that'll get to hear it early. While Coldplay's not just sticking their hands out and saying "take it" (who would?), they're also not being overly careful as far as we can tell. To me, that spells leak, just like everything else major has in the past few years besides one recent album.

Best thing since "hen of luxury" :lol:

I don't really think it's about being right or wrong about what a person is actually like, I think it's about erring on the side of respect. Not that not a single critical word can't be uttered ever, I just don't see what's so fun about being publicly negative about a person, or really about anything when it's not constructive. There are ways to debate the merit of things while still being fair and within reason. I have this gripe pretty much everywhere, least of all in this thread, so I'll shut up for now :escaping:

God, that's terrible :sick: I'll never understand the need for anyone to publicly talk or post about someone they don't know so hatefully. Not that I'm some model of behavior, but I either like a person or am neutral towards them, especially when it has to do with someone I know nothing about except from what the media feeds me. I don't understand why the whole "say something nice or nothing at all" adage is so hard sometimes.

I hope you know that was not meant to be condescending :smiley:.

Ooh, good one, that too! :D

Watch The Throne was probably the most anticipated, which is made even more remarkable by the fact that it didn't leak. Lady Gaga's Born This Way. Beyoncé's 4. RHCP's I'm With You is pretty anticipated, but I wouldn't say more than MX, I don't think (it comes out tomorrow in the US, but it was leaked a few weeks ago--prime example). The Strokes' Angles, mostly because it was their first in five years when most people never expected them to make another again, but they're not in the same notoriety category as a band like Coldplay, so the anticipation is different. The Vaccines' What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? was pretty hyped in England, at least. Adele's 21 was huge. Foo Fighters' Wasting Light. Little Wayne's Tha Carter IV. That turned into a list of "notable releases of 2011" more than "things that are more anticipated than MX," but I would say Watch The Throne and Born This Way are the two biggies while a lot of the others are very debatable. But for the rest of the year at least, I think Coldplay's is definitely the most anticipated.

I think Coldplay is definitely one of the biggest bands in the world, like top 3 at least. U2 is probably bigger still, and groups like Take That or whatever that sell out huge shows multiple nights in England and Europe etc have next to no influence at all in places like the US, so I don't think that can compare. Individual artists like Kanye and Beiber etc, yes, but I think for a BAND, Coldplay really does take the cake along with U2. I don't think this is the most anticipated album of the year, though. One of them, yeah, but it's been a big year in music.

You also have to be in the US or Canada, and judging by your flag, I don't think you are :\

It's the link I quoted above, the first one :wink:

Random rolling around in laughter that the story on Chris and Gwyneth's budding relationship was on a Strokes site I follow pretty religiously :lol:. The girl that runs that blog has the most enviable stories, at least from my point of view. Of course she would have been there for that, too :dozey: :lol: [/random irrelevant]

Right back at you :kiss:

It's actually exactly the opposite: even huge bands and their management teams and labels CAN'T prevent an album from leaking, no matter how hard they try. Or at least they couldn't until a few weeks ago, when Kanye and Jay-Z pulled out a new method that actually worked--a highly anticipated album from a major artist in the past five years or more that hasn't leaked is almost unheard of, which is why the story of Watch The Throne and what it took to protect it is pretty remarkable. But artists and labels and teams know that they CAN'T stop leaks, so instead of trying to stop them, many of them have now adjusted their business and plans to make them work in their favor, which sometimes includes leaking it themselves on their own terms before someone else does :smiley:. And thanks for the lovely things everyone's said :blush:.

I live in the Hamptons during a good portion of the summer...except this summer :mean:. She looks great, though. I always think she looks best and healthiest when she's casual (and I like her clothes better :P).

:surprised: Ooh, is that why? I've never known. Whatever is released where, guys, you KNOW everyone else is going to get their hands on the same song almost instantly via the internet, and you can always order Japanese versions via eBay once they start appearing :D

This thread hurts my head now. Like it or don't, hypothesize about what it means for the album track/general band trajectory or don't...either way, we've got nothing to do but predict until this thing comes out or leaks, so we might as well learn how to do it without calling people "not real fans" or fangirls/boys.

The fact that EMI made us sign our lives away with regards to hearing "Christmas Lights" (a one-off holiday track with no bearing on a real moneymaker album) a week early makes me think that hearing a FULL ALBUM over a MONTH early will require the winners to literally put their souls on the line :uhoh:. If I end up winning (:lol:), I'd probably have to remove myself from the entire internet for a month to make sure I comply with their wishes and am not abducted and murdered by EMI execs in my sleep :P (Nah, I'm a pretty good secret-keeper, sucks for y'all :sneaky:)

When the album leaks, it's not allowed to be posted directly on this board anyway, even in MM...but that doesn't mean it's hard to find, either. It will be available for anyone who wants and avoidable for anyone who doesn't want it (but not for those who don't want to READ about it, because this place will explode with comments and opinions just like it did on June 4, 08). But about half the fanbase doesn't see leaking as "ruining a surprise," so whoever leaks it/finds it and directs attention from this board to it will not be banned, unless policy has changed since what happened in '08. I'm don't want to get all preachy and go into "leaks 101," but... That's directed at no one in particular, by the way, despite quoting posts :D. It's just that if we're going to throw around the wretched phrase "real fan," let's educate ourselves a bit about what leaks actually mean and what they actually DO before positioning ourselves above or below other fans and pointing fingers at personal and ultimately harmless choices. If anyone was really curious, I could give an explanation of why someone would WANT to listen to a leak for reasons that weren't simply "I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE, GIMME GIMMIE GIMMIE." Bottom line: it's almost definitely going to leak. All you have to do is decide whether YOU want to listen and plan accordingly.

That's how I feel too. I like both old Coldplay and new Coldplay, but for reasons that have nothing to do with each other. I feel like I've articulated that idea further in other threads in the past few weeks and that I've cluttered this thread enough for one day, so I'll leave it at that. Bands that are more than a flash in the pan grow and change, but I feel like there's something a bit more to it in Coldplay's case sometimes.

Welcome to Coldplaying, Land of Polarisation :lol: I'll be the first to admit I'm being very harsh, along with a good portion of the fanbase, about almost everything they've done so far this summer. Despite what I seem like, anyway, I feel like I have a pretty open mind--I just don't see the harm in giving opinions (mixed in with predictions drawn from what we have so far) while we wait. I'm very interested in music business, particularly promotion and charting, so I tend to relate everything back to that, for better or for worse. I think this puts a lot of people on edge, especially when I end up phrasing things badly like I did in my last post in this thread. ...But for now...I don't like the way this backing track looks, personally. All we can do is see how it turns out on the actual record and blab until our mouths are sore until then.

EXACTLY. The idea they're putting forth, at least to more "veteran" fans, is that they just want more and more people to be fans with less concern for those who may be leaving. I don't necessarily think that's what they're CONSCIOUSLY doing, especially not the four members themselves, but that seems to be the line they're coming awfully close to crossing as far as we can tell right now. That all sounds very harsh, especially because I'm pretty confident I'll like the album in some capacity, but I just wish they weren't being quite so ambitious on the business end of things anymore. God knows they don't really *need* to, but the fat cats in offices lined with gold records wouldn't agree, and I think those guys may be increasingly having influence.

^ I was so encouraged by the clear vocals on that when I heard it the first time the other day and went into the upswing of the rollercoaster ride that is waiting for this record, thinking "wow, it doesn't seem like they mucked that one up like MM," but...HLH brought me a bit back down again. Then again, who knows. I do have faith in them, but up to a point. I think the overall song will be better from what we can hear just from that live backing track, but JESUS, AUTOTUNE? :worried:

Thanks, Brooke :P. I was so happy to get it that I posted it twice :angry:. Note to entrants that are under 18: It looks like you'll have to enter using your parents' names, and if you win but your parents can't come with you to Austin on those dates, you are disqualified. I was going to enter using my parents names too even though I'm old (:P), but I doubt they'd be able to get off work if they won in their names, and that would ruin everything :sad:. My brother probably could miss two days of college if he actually won :P, and I'm unemployed :awesome:.

DP :angry: