Pop star attacks sites leaking her unfinished songs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Singer Marina Diamandis – better known by her stage name of Marina and the Diamonds – has hit out at “grim and unworthy characters” who have leaked her new material online. In a 600-word diatribe posted on her blog this week, she described the leaking of “half-assed unfinished songs that I write at 3am on a tour bus” as an invasion of her privacy.
The Welsh singer, whose debut album The Family Jewels reached number five in the UK chart last year, claimed that a succession of the songs she had written and recorded during the production of her new album had been leaked over the internet. “The more leaks that happen, the slower I go,” she warned fans. She said she did not know when her new record would be released, but that it would not be in shops this year. “It could be one or five years,” she added.
The 25-year-old also pointed out that the leaks affected her creativity: “[People who leak music] are laughing at both you and I, whilst their sites get attention and they claim ‘kudos’ in hacker forums, as creativity grinds to an anxiety-ridden halt,” she wrote. She told fans: “I know that the intentions behind listening to leaked songs are innocent. I don’t even mind if you listen to them. But just so you know, in doing so, you are now supporting the idea that nobody has the right to basic privacy. And by nobody, that means you too, somewhere down the line.” The leaking of half-finished material over the internet is an increasing problem for modern performers.
Last year, Simon Cowell’s Syco label was reported to have contacted the FBI after tracks from its artists appeared online before their release dates, while American Hip Hop star Kanye West was equally unimpressed when a hacker released an unfinished track from his fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Earlier this year, US rapper T-Pain even threatened to leak his own album in a bid to beat others to it. Diamandis, who will support Katy Perry on a tour of the US later this year, pointed out that she gave much of her first album away to fans as demos, adding: “It is not fair on me to have to worry that every time I put an idea
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments