ok, so yet another song has leaked and the fan community has gone into meltdown sharing download links. And with it comes all the usual crap about how this happens and who is to blame. So lets get all those urban myths out of the way and talk about the reality of these songs leaks.

People need to stop being so naive to think songs are kept in a mythical giant safe in Brancas office.

In this digital age, songs can be stolen and illegally recorded in seconds and in many cases the artist may not even be aware their work is being compromised. All it takes is for a studio tech or friend of a producer to press record on their phone. Before smart phones, they made secret copies of master tapes, or had hidden recording equipment.

So what happens next? Well the studio tech walks out with his secret recording, while the master original song is kept by the artist or recording company.

The studio tech then shares their illegal copy of the song, either for profit or as a trade.

Now we come into the secret world of traders and collectors. Despite what many may think, the Michael Jackson fan community has many layers and sections. One of those sections is the traders and collectors. These are the fans who spend their money and time gathering rare songs and footage. The songs and footage loose value every time they are shared, so the goal among the traders is to keep sharing to a minimum.

But over time, songs and footage get shared and traded and the group of people who now own an illegal copy grows and grows. Some where in the chain there is a weak link. Someone in the chain gets a copy and decides to make it public. Maybe the song has been uploaded to a public file sharing site and someone  accidently finds it. Suddenly it appears on YouTube. It only takes seconds for someone to download it from YouTube and share it. Emails are sent, omg, you have to listen, a rare song… someone else uploads it to YouTube, and within hours the song is viral.

So there you have it, thats how all these song leaks happen. There is no conspiracy, there is no big plot, it is simply that songs are in the possession of the traders. The songs are illegal copies made by people in the studio when the songs are recorded or remixed or by people who make illegal copies from the masters. The songs have been stolen from the artist or from the record company.

It amazes me that the Michael Jackson fan community can scream and shout and make all sorts of noise about protecting Michael’s legacy, yet when a new song leaks it goes viral. Do people not understand they are stealing from Michael?? Do people not understand that with every song leak they are devaluing Michael’s music and thereby harming his legacy.