When The Quietus receieves a promotional compact disc from Universal Records it will generally come wearing a chastity belt, and accompanied by a warning screed that reads like the vicious accusations of a particularly inquisitive Spanish inquisitor. Out of all the major labels, it’s long been Universal who’ve really really seemed to not like this new-fangled internet machine, and its potential for the unfortunate free distribution of music.
So it’s with no small sense of schadenfreude that we can report that the person responsible for the leaking of U2’s new album No Line On The Horizon was not some hapless music journalist – but Universal Records themselves.
The leak of the album, which has resulted in it splurging all over the file sharing services, has been traced to a bungle by Universal Music Australia’s online store getmusic.com.au. Getmusic accidentally released the album for sale before the official street date of March 2nd. Although they swiftly removed it from the site, fans had already purchased the album and subsequently leaked it onto file sharing services.
The Quietus’ track-by-track review of an ethically-sourced copy of No Line On The Horizon will be published tomorrow.
