The Internet claimed a most unlikely victim last week. For the first time ever, a vast number of Irish people did not engage in the traditional ritual of tuning into Dave Fanning on 2FM to hear tracks from the new U2 album. Instead, a vast number of these honest, hard-working, Fianna Fail-voting folk turned on their computers to hear the new U2 album for the first time, writes Jim Carroll.
They went to nme.com, mtv.com or one of the other U2- friendly usual suspects, clicked through to that part of the site containing audio streams of all the tracks from How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and had a listen at their leisure.
Of course, Dave had been playing tracks from the new album on his evening gabfest, but he certainly did not play the album in its entirety, track for track, Bono yelp for Bono yelp, retro Edge guitar lick for retro Edge guitar lick. Having access to it on your computer meant you could hear it any old way at any old time. Indeed, you were probably in a better position to appreciate it than many reviewers, who had to plod along to some office or other to hear it before going away to award it 9 out of 10.
It's not the first time an album has been made so freely and easily available ahead of release, but it is the most significant pre-release experiment yet. Given that 2004 has been the year of mass paranoid visions in the music industry when it comes to anything downloaded, it's quite remarkable that this year's biggest release was available so widely ahead of release.
Compared to the stance taken by U2 label-mate Eminem, their approach to meeting the Internet halfway is both practical and amenable. They know people will still buy the album in droves, so why not let them hear it in advance? After all, album promotion involves sending it to radio DJs ahead of release, so why not simply stream it online for all to hear and bypass the jocks?
As for Eminem, once his so-so Encore album inevitably leaked onto the Internet, his people had a panic attack and brought forward the album's release date to thwart any nasty bootleggers. While this measure may have protected Eminem's commercial clout, it doesn't say much about his insecurity and fragile ego.
That Eminem and his managers, accountants, attorneys and assorted advisors really thought this would hurt sales of a new album by a huge global megastar beggars belief. Encore still sold in vast quantities - over 900,000 worldwide in two days - and it will continue selling for months to come.
Of course, there's a promotional spin to shifting the release date, gathering as it does column inches and radio and TV time. Yet such tomfoolery about online piracy has occurred with every single Eminem album release since his début. It's time for that chap to stop crying wolf.
Once copies of their album began to filter through to illegal download shebeens, U2 could easily have done an Eminem. They could have screamed and shouted. They could have rush-released the album. They could have sent out their legal heavies to deal with the matter. Instead, they preferred to treat the Internet as a useful rather than a harmful resource, and set about harnessing its potential rather than upsetting well-made plans.
Streaming the album will not have a detrimental medium- or long-term effect on album sales. Some may well have checked the album online, decided it contained nothing as good as 1982 single A Celebration and kept their money in their pockets. Aside from these 14 people, everyone else will want their own copy. This weekend (November 26th), the album will enter many charts at No 1 and will probably sell in excess of 10 million copies over the next year, especially once touring begins.
When you compare how U2 and Eminem have dealt with the download problem, you can see common sense on one side and paranoia on the other. Both artists may be signed to the same conglomerate, yet two different policies have applied.
Bet you can tell which one the music industry favours.
jimcarroll@irish-times.ie
