Thirteen songs purportedly from Madonna’s newest album, which doesn’t have a title yet (Contenders include Unapologetic Bitch and Iconic), have leaked to the internet, according to gossip site Oh No They Didn’t. Producers on the album reportedly included Aviici, Natalia Kills, Diplo, and Ryan Tedder.
Madonna’s entire album leaks — before she announces it
The reverse-Beyoncé
The reverse-Beyoncé
is a reporter who writes about tech, money, and human behavior. She joined The Verge in 2014 as science editor. Previously, she was a reporter at Bloomberg.
A year ago, Beyoncé‘s self-titled album was released in the middle of the night, a surprise to fans. This is... sort of the reverse of that — no one knew Madonna’s new album was coming out, not even Madonna herself. It may be difficult to make sure everyone who works on an album is doing so in secret, and with secure technology. But it’s probably cheaper to do that than to clean up after a massive leak like this one.
"Why not give me the opportunity to finish and give you my very best?"
According to Madonna, though, the leaks are "unfinished demos stolen long ago and not ready to be presented to the world." At least, that's what she said on Instagram. She followed up with an Instagram post that deemed the leaks "artistic rape," and said — sic, obviously — "These are early leaked demo's half of which wont even make it on my album the other half have changed and evolved. This is a form of terrorism." I am of the opinion that rape is rape and terrorism is terrorism; the leaks are just intellectual property theft. No matter how hurt she may feel, conflating these things is not especially helpful.
Madonna does ask one good question, though: “Why not give me the opportunity to finish and give you my very best?”
This isn’t the first leak from Madonna this year. In November, a clip of a new song called “Rebel Heart,” hit the internet. Afterwards, her manager, Guy Oseary, tweeted the following:
I would be grateful to any @madonna fans that can assist us in finding those responsible for the leak.. We appreciate your help..
— Guy Oseary (@guyoseary) November 28, 2014 Update: Article has been updated to reflect Madonna’s second Instagram post. Correction: This article initially misspelled Natalia Kills’ name.
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