" Some Has it Leaked members think we’re a website that loves piracy, here to support and supply the suckers who only want stuff for free. Nope. This may come as a surprise, but we actually don’t support piracy. Shocking, isn’t it? Has it Leaked was born from the idea that labels and fans should […]"
SHOULD WE NOT ALLOW ALBUM DELUXE VERSIONS ON THE SITE?
“Should we not allow deluxe album versions on the site? Why? “
Some Has it Leaked members think we’re a website that loves piracy, here to support and supply the suckers who only want stuff for free. Nope. This may come as a surprise, but we actually don’t support piracy. Shocking, isn’t it?
Has it Leaked was born from the idea that labels and fans should meet somewhere in the middle, instead of overzealous pirates hacking the RIAA or labels putting annoying DRM restrictions on music. At Has it Leaked, we would like to be a mediator, treating leaks as news.
For the labels, we’ve given them a fighting chance. Using our site, they actually have a chance at stopping a leak, that’s why we ask you to report the leak sources. With our site, the labels and the artists also have a chance to communicate directly with the fans who are waiting to download a free copy of their album. We want to be a forum where they can provide a reason to not download illegally and maybe even add lucrative pre-order links. Also, if the labels or artists sign-up for an email leak alert, they’ll get an instant notification that the album has leaked. This is a much more direct method than the traditional practice of spending their money on useless so-called “Web Sheriffs”, which have been proven to be faulty.
our site is for music fans, not fans of piracy
On the other hand, we don’t ignore the fact that album leaks are a big part of the music industry. These days, a lot of fans often have heard an album before the reviews hit the newsstands. We also saw a huge number of fake download leaks out there, aiming to steal fans’ credit cards. Our mission was to give fans a platform to wait together, discuss the album and the hype surrounding it.
We know, being diehard fans of certain groups ourselves, it’s not about the piracy – it’s about the feeling that you can’t wait to listen to that new album. But it’s also the reason as to why we don’t provide links to downloads, our site is for the music fans, not fans of piracy. If you want to delve deeper into the site’s agenda, I would suggest reading my about piece.
fans and labels need to meet in the middle, again
Lately we’ve seen an increase in the number of duplicate entries on our site, many of these coming from the fact that so-called “deluxe” versions of albums are being released alongside the standard releases. To me, those deluxe versions on our site represent the fans who simply want all music to be free, and would never consider buying or pre-ordering an album. Before Napster and the whole Internet boom, deluxe albums were rare and were often meant for the Japanese market who had to deal with a high piracy rate. Nowadays, deluxe albums are a way for the labels to convince those who downloaded the leak to buy the album – and to give them something extra in exchange for forking out some cash. All of this gets back to my argument that fans and labels need to meet in the middle, I think it’s fair that we let those deluxe versions not be a part of this site. Let the label have that minor upper hand.
The last few years labels and artist have been good to us
The last few years labels and artist have been good to us – Free album streams are now a common thing, and they are often being released when an album has leaked. It’s like they’ve come to terms that it’s difficult to stop a leak and therefore give us a reasonable alternative. So why not let the extra tracks added to a deluxe version be their way of giving fans a reason to buy an album they already have?
So, should we or shouldn’t we allow the deluxe/limited/BestBuy/exclusive/etc versions of albums on our site? I believe we should scrap them. And no, it’s not going to change the world, or affect the industry at all – but I do like to take a stance. However, this is a community, not a dictatorship – it’s up to you to decide.
Post your thoughts below!
Sincerely,
Has it Leaked founder, Staffan Ulmert (thanks to Sean May for the revision)
you guys act like you care about music yet you created a site dedicated to letting people know when they can instantly rip off the artist, and you’re worried about a few bonus tracks. smmmmmmhhhhhh
Don’t want to be rude but, did you actually read the article?
It did clearly outline in this article that Has It Leaked is NOT here to provide music listeners with links to leaks, but rather, giving record labels the opportunity to prevent the leaks.
Has It Leaked is also here to provide a platform for music listeners to discuss and hype albums that are due to be released. Leaks are to be treated as news, not as a source to illegally download music. That is why Has It Leaked has never allowed links to be posted.
This is fucking stupid.
I just read this now and I feel bad for all those deluxe versions I added!!! I didn’t know that was a reason deluxe versions existed!!! D: not good
This seems beyond reasonable.Multiple entries for essentially the same album often clutter the site’s front page. also, hasitleaked has been a valuable news source for album news for a long time. I’d hate to see labels and artists take action against a source I love and trust so dearly. I do support the motion to remove deluxe editions from the site. Besides, if you really wanted to pirate a deluxe album, chances are you will have no trouble finding info/links elsewhere (God forbid you actually visit the artist’s website for info). *end rant*
I support this notion 100%. I had never seen Deluxe Editions for albums in this light before but it does make a lot of sense, both for record labels to do this, and also for Has It Leaked to stop providing information on Deluxe Editions.
I propose the idea that there isn’t an alert option for when deluxe versions are leaked but rather that the various deluxe versions’ album information is listed (IE bonus tracks from Target/Best Buy/iTunes, etc.) This will help consumers decide beforehand where to pre-order/order an album from.
I would hate to pre-order an album from Target only to find out that Best Buy is the retailer who was providing a bonus track version.
People that want to use this site as a means of a notification source for when the album they want is ready to be snagged for free will find what they want period. Not listing a deluxe album won’t stop someone from finding it.
If someone sees–on here–that album X is out, they’ll go to The Pirate Bay, or something similar, search for X, sort by seeds, and find the deluxe version sitting near the top. (Most likely.)
If Has It Leaked truly wants to help the music industry then maybe they could do them a favor and link to the various ways and places can buy an album. I’m sure Apple would be more than happy to have Has It Leaked linking to iTunes, Amazon to their store, Google to theirs, and so on.
Why not do that?
We actually are, you can add a pre-order link to any album. And if you look around, most albums actually have an order link. Look below the album description and you’ll find it.
deluxe versions of albums are normally released after the original release. if you know the album has been released surely people can go and look for bonus tracks themselves
I really don’t see how, if you are rationalizing not including deluxe editions for that reason, you couldn’t or wouldn’t make the same application toward regular (non deluxe edition) albums. What’s the difference? If it’s a morality issue, you can’t really apply it in one instance and not the other.
Second, this seems assume that the only people interested in deluxe editions are ones who already have the original or regular edition albums, and that’s not always the case – especially for current releases where the regular and deluxe editions are released at the same time. And for older albums, those are very often the first exposure people have to the album and they don’t always have the original already.
So while I get the desire to appease certain people, I don’t believe you owe these people anything and I think the logic is faulty. You are not encouraging piracy and you certainly aren’t facilitating it, so I don’t believe there is any reason to try and legitimize yourself in their eyes. All albums should be included at all times – anything less and you are not providing a complete service.
First of all, great article. I’m one of those that completely agree with scrapping the deluxe edition clutter. Also, I want to point out the recent surge in people posting ‘singles’ on the site. It makes no sense to me in a site solely dedicated to hyping albums. I see it as a farce for members that are looking to pick up easy points. It’s very unprofessional and spits on the sites credibility.
Yep, deluxe and singles need to be taken out. Singles are part of an album, if you want the single, follow the album or artist. In the event of an actual leaked single, it can be put on the album page.
Yes, Singles should be banned!! These so called (radio) leaks are really irritating.
I’m for banning deluxe versions and as pointed out by Lloyd singles as well.
Maybe there could be a seperate section for them but definitely not the front page.
i wouldn’t go with single / e.p’s because a lot of the bands i listen to release stuff that isn’t on any album this way
Well I find that this site is more about album releases then fact of them leaking. Albums will leak no matter what version(s) being deluxe, remastered, best buy, vinyl versions and etc. I think we should be informed about what each release has to offer and what is available.
I don’t think they should be disallowed.
While you make a very good and valid point, I propose another angle.
This website is very clean, organized, and it’s a great place for people who love all types of music to discuss and promote. The rules prevent folks from illegally sharing here on the website, which is all the record companies and artists could possibly ask for.
If this website is not the main go to site for this kind of thing, somewhere else will be, and who knows what that somewhere else will allow?
Personally I come to this website because I think much like everyone else, I LOVE music and I am SO IMPATIENT when I know something good is coming! I love coming to check up on my most anticipated releases and seeing if they’ve leaked or not. And I’ll be honest, OF COURSE I download them if I can find them. Normal version, Deluxe, Special, whatever edition I can find.
But then I do what I think everyone should do, I go out and I buy the album when it releases. I love supporting the artists and labels that treat me (us) well. It’s what it’s all about. Quite frankly I don’t see any reason for any artist or label to be upset about fans downloading a leak, especially when they go out to buy it. It’s why all these labels (primarily in my preferred genre of metal, hardcore, etc) go out and post songs on mediums like YouTube before the album releases. They WANT US TO HEAR IT. They WANT US to know what we’re in for.
So I say, don’t ditch anything, and long live hasitleaked.com. Not because I (we) are a bunch of crummy pirates, but because I (we) are passionate about the music we listen to, and as humans we can’t help but want it NOW NOW NOW :)
Hey gang, thanks for your input! All of your arguments are really thoughtful, coming from both sides, and it means a lot to me that this didn’t end up being a Youtube-type comment thread ;) Proud to have such an intelligent bunch of fans on the site. I’ll make sure to make a democratic decision regarding this and aim to implement any change on the upcoming Has it Leaked 2 site update.
All album variants should be allowed via HasItLeaked certain variant’s of an album most of the time have some missed tracks,artwork,lyrics,bonus features ect. that some wouldn’t get from a basic release I have recently noticed that some Deluxe versions of albums have missing tracks on them especially japanese deluxe version. So wouldn’t we all like to be aware of this matter? Of course we would! So for that reason all album variants should be certainly allowed and no reason to question the fact!!
I don’t really think we should not allow deluxe versions. Why? Some people buy albums JUST for the bonus songs. You don’t want to buy something that might be crap.
Better yet, make the pages for the albums have a separate leak section. Like a tab. One for standard, other for deluxe, depending on how many editions there are.
To make it more simple, simply add “Tab” to one of the sections on “Add an album”, and make us input the description, tracklist, etc.
I think it’s much easier, and faster to locate. Leaks become more accurate, people get the info they need. I think it’s a win-win.
Nice post bro seems legit. I consider myself neither a pirate nor w.e as I plan to buy Eminem’s album the day it comes out, though, I will probably torrent it as well.
Include deluxe version in the post about the regular versions.
Has it leaked? no
Deluxe version? no
Other version? no
Easy fix. Also, interesting article.
I think this would be a very good approach
I don’t care about deluxe albums being posted. A different category would be nice but it doesn’t bother me. Singles being uploaded annoy me way more. Some singles are non album stuff which is fine but posting a single is kinda a cheap way to get points and annoying because they take trending spots away from other albums.
there’s already enough duplicate posts without deluxe, deluxe should be an option on the page where you can report leaks, add different tracklists and different covers but all on the same page
completely agree about singles being taken off of here
The jury is in on singles – We’ll be dropping them when we update to #HIL2 in November. Still waiting for more feedback with regards to deluxe versions, but its leaning towards having them dropped as well. We’ll allow EPs and deluxe versions which are released 6 months after the original release (see Lana Del Rey’s last album as an example).
Wiz Khalifa has not been good to his fans. That is all.
leave them. real fans buy albums. also sometimes you don’t know there is a different deluxe version somewhere else. (i.e. get the itunes version without checking Best Buy’s version)
scrap deluxe
Re-releases yes. If the deluxe edition has the SAME release date as the standard edition then no.