New Roxette album already on Napster
Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on March 22, 2001 to Misc.
On April 2nd, Roxette’s new album, “Room Service,” will be released in most parts of the world. But for two days now, it’s been possible to download the entire CD from the controversial, legally-embattled Napster file-sharing service.
This fact has been the subject of discussion in our SmallTalk forum and on the Roxette Mailing List. Today, it hit the pages of the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
“There’s not much that can be done about it. It was the same for Madonna and U2,” said Roxette’s manager Marie Dimberg to Aftonbladet. “We can hope that the majority of Roxette fans will want the real album with the booklet and packaging” she said.
“It’s sad that this has happened,” said Li Eriksson of EMI, who, along with Per and Marie, has their attorney attempting to remove the files from Napster. As to how they got there in the first place… well, the list of potential suspects is large. While the Aftonbladet article mentions a possible theft from the factory, Eriksson told TDR that “of course there is a possibility that someone from the media put it there - journalists get listening copies of the album before interviewing Per & Marie. Also, retailers get copies to listen to before hand.”
Yet to be determined, of course, is how damaging this will be to the overall success of the “Room Service” project. Legal and monetary issues aside, the fear is that it will hurt sales – and therefore chart positions. Other fans cite industry figures that CD sales are up, and feel that that the impact will be negligible.
So far, there has been no direct comment from Per or Marie, who are in rehearsals for the upcoming showcase concerts.
- Aftonbladet article (In Swedish)
Other articles with the same topic
- Roxette interview from the rehearsals (February 18, 2011)
- Ask Per a great question (February 7, 2011)
- Rock Band 3 features Roxette (September 8, 2010)
- Dolph Lundgren mentions Per in UK interview (August 22, 2010)
- Record "The Look" and win $5,000 shopping spree (August 11, 2010)
25 comments
kachina008 said on March 22, 2001 06:07:
I downloaded the album too, then felt a little disappointed, and then deleted it without listening to it. i think id like the whole album with the jewel case and insert in my hand!!
but im confident that even if i had the whole album i would still want to buy it. i hope most fans will do the same.
i cant wait!!!
ps...hi lars!! its me from DE! :)
Galning said on March 22, 2001 06:10:
I admit that I already heard some tracks I downloaded from Napster. First I wanted to wait but I think it´s a crazy thing with the internet and Napster and how easy it is to get such informations nowadays. Therefore I wanted to join this “adventure” and I heard some of the tracks. Of course I will buy the album and I think noone have lost something because I heard the song. A lot of people won a lot because of this cos I was able to leave the house this morning with a smile on my face :-)
Sofaraway said on March 22, 2001 06:58:
I think all of us will buy the new album. I was downloading it (yes, I’m guilty), since I (and EMI) have no idea when to release it in Canada, I just couldn’t resist! But as soon as it comes out, I’ll have it...won’t miss the nice pics!
The negative part is that all other people who are not into rox as we are can download it and they won’t buy the CD...which will reflect on the charts! So after downloading it...just erase it!
JMiykal said on March 22, 2001 08:22:
Agreed – if we’re all clamoring for on-time releases in the US, then we’ll need to support that by actually paying them money. Besides, if the sneaky insider realizes that it’s worth more money to release an album sooner than it is to release free MP3s, we just might not have to wait six months for their next album to hit the US.
Angheluz said on March 22, 2001 08:45:
I think I got clear: WE WILL BUY THE ALBUM ANYWAY, that’s what fans do!, how ever is obvious that it will hurt sales, but if that’s the world these days, if the album is great people will go to the store and pay what ever it takes, but if they are not fans, it’s like if they got a cd or cassette copy.
aurorakent said on March 22, 2001 17:43:
I don’t think this is really a bad thing. For those who thought that U.S. fans would buy the album online on the April release date and hurt potential sales here in the States, here is an excuse to wait until the offical American release to buy the new CD. Besides, who really knows how long Napster will be up and running, anyway. It could be gone tomorrow.
gameandwatchman said on March 22, 2001 23:10:
Ive downloaded the song too, and even if Napster was closed we would still get the album before its release. Anyone can convert cd tracks to mp3 and put them on a site for download,like whats happened.
pilkathy said on March 23, 2001 10:26:
I don’t think that NAPSTER can have a negative effect on the sales. It’s the same with copied tapes, only in a larger scale. I believe that most of the people prefer having the “real thing” Besides, I believe it’s a good promotion. First you get a taste and then you want to obtain the album. :-)
Ferdan said on March 23, 2001 19:53:
You´re lame.
MP3 are annoying to my ears... even on 192kps... i can tell you what´s mp3 and what´s CD in 2 seconds.
Anyway, see this: a band worked really hard to do a song... hundred hours to record it.... and then you listen to it and you love it... and it makes your life better.
So you download it and enjoy it days and days... don´t you feel that you need to give them something back?, how do they retrieve what they have done for you? you shit on them stealing them. How nice of you
pietROxette said on March 22, 2001 05:19:
Well, I’ve also downloaded the mp3s from various websites, but after listening to them, I’ve deleted them. Probably you should also do the same. It’s not fair to get CD quality music without paying for it. Before deleting them, I’ve made some real audio samples of the songs and uplaoded them to the web - so if you want to know what’s the album like, you can check out these smaller files (only 32 kbps and mono, but still okay), go to http://free.x3.hu/rooms1
I believe those files are not illegal, since they are far beyond CD quality. Well, at least not that illegal. Pretty enough to check the new sound if Roxette, I think.
See ya in the record stores on April 2 :-)