Did Reprise want the song leaked?
 

They have not taken the song down from youtube and Perez Hilton even has it up on his site. It's really going viral. Even Rolling Stone has it on their website. What's going on here?

In a word... YES. The more hits "Secret Love" gets on YouTube, The more it catapults towards a viral sensation. Even Billboard.com follows the latest video sensations on their viral video vault which tracks the must see music clips spreading across the web. Let's pray with Dave's involvement & filming that he and Stevie unveil a nice music video very soon. Maybe it will come on the Feb. 3rd official single release date.

No. I totally disagree with you. So does Stevie. They're just busy. They could have had it posted it on Stevie's site or WB site or shipped to everyone for free whether they bought the cd or not if they wanted to do a giveaway.

Of course they did. They wouldn't have offered the free download if they hadn't. Way more people are going to hear it on YT than are going to pre-order the CD.

Huh? They did giveaway the song for free when we bought the CD. :shrug:

I think we will see when WB finalizes the In Your Dreams track list officially, that those buying through WB directly will be receiving a special edition (like with The Sound Stage Sessions, with bonus artwork/bonus song). And it could be that this initial offer of a free download w/ preorder was to get a ballpark estimation of how many special editions to press. I also think it's entirely possible that they release a different song on Feb. 3rd.

I know artists, example, ColdPlay release singles... and then someone puts it up on youtube... I am glad they are turning to 21st century technolagy on getting the word out.. and yes I love the Song, and now can't wait for the album :]

Forgive me; I posted too quickly. They could have given it away whether one bought the cd or not. It was a package deal. You got it FREE when you bought the cd. Now it's being given away without buying the cd exactly as Stevie predicted the fans would do.

I think they like the single and think that it is a really good first single.

Stevie is a 60 something artist who hasn't released any new material in a full decade... WB wants to flame the fire of excitement. It's pretty smart, actually... it basically costs them no money to leak the song, and now it's all over the internet. It's called building excitement. If WB wanted it off youtube, it'd be gone by now. They knew exactly what would happen with this song being released early. Everyone is playing into their hands precisely the way they wanted. And who knows... maybe this is one of the songs that won't even end up on the album? There are talks of a couple of songs getting chopped. In any event, I think WB is actually quite smart with this move.

I have to agree with louie (well put btw) WB knew EXACTLY what they were doing with the "Instant" download....This is where I differ from everyone else...Secret love is new Stevie and it's new and fresh and exciting...But it has not grabbed me yet and i've had it on repeat for 24hrs...Don't get me wrong I do like it...Just hasn't knocked my socks off...Yet...Could be this is an extra track that WB gave away to stir the pot and get peeps talking about Mama again...To me this is not the best thing she has ever done...With all the hype from D Wild,M Fleetwood ,M Branch D,Stewart I was expecting more...WB may have simply thrown us a bone and it seems to be working...I don't think I have ever seen this much Stevie excitement on the inter net EVER...This is only the tip on the Stevie iceberg...As dave said "Stevie fans are in for a wild ride" so LET THE WILD RIDE BEGIN!!!

Well, I don't think it's the best thing she has ever done, but I would put it on a Best of or Greatest Hits. I think it's better than anything since Talk to Me. Rooms on Fire was kinda different, but that single was not a knockout.

P.S. This single was never mentioned by anyone as being their favorite off the album, so you could be right. But it seems to me this is the single that is going to go to radio. However, when Whitney Houston lasts album came out, they tested 4 singles. They kept leaking songs. I guess that's how they choose.

Piracy Editorial

Before people jump down my throat about this, keep in mind the title of this thread brought up this question. This is only my thoughts on the subject. I'm not pointing fingers (except one, which you'll see) and I make no judgments about anyone here. As a member of The Ledge I was given a topic to speak on and here are my thoughts.


People have such a feeling of entitlement these days. They feel if they want something then they deserve to be given it for free and they will rationalize it nine ways to Sunday to alleviate themselves from responsibility.

I work for a porn company. You guys would be surprised at how many people say to me, "I saw your last movie, it was great. I downloaded it off of a torrent". And if I comment that the video was for sale on DVD or available with a paid membership to our site I get met with all kinds of angry excuses about how expensive porn is and it was just one movie so why should they have to pay for a whole month, and stuff like that. And with more and more piracy going on our numbers have been falling. I started out at this job making a decent amount of money but have only had one raise in the past three years, and it wasn't even enough to cover my raise in rent this year alone. Contrary to popular belief, I do this for a living because it's a job. It's not about having fun and goofing off with porn stars and getting my rocks off. It's about working 9 to 5 like everyone else, getting up when I'd rather be in bed, and handling lots of things I don't always enjoy so I can pay bills and put food on the table. And if there wasn't so much piracy I could afford to pay $500 and get front row seats to see Stevie and Rod but as it stands I'll be way in the back with the cheap seats as usual. I've seen Stevie, who's my favorite artist of all time, ten times in my life and have never been closer than the back of section C.

WB didn't give you a free song. They gave you an advanced download from the CD you were pre-ordering. Is that leaking a song to the public? No. The download is an incentive to get you to order it directly from WB rather than wait and download from iTunes or buy from a retail store. The WB store is it's own thing and they want to make a sale as much as any of the retail stores do. And would a lot of die hard Stevie fans pre-order a CD to get an advanced download. Hell yes.

But thanks to the lovely person who posted it for free on YouTube a nice chunk of WB's pre-sale revenue has been stolen. The person who's idea it was to offer a download with the presale may have had a projection on how many sales this would make. I wonder if they had to take theft into account? And even though it's popular to believe "they have tons of money" the sad truth is that people are being laid off left and right. People who work in entertainment are having the same money problems everyone else is and while the executives might still make a pretty penny, the cost of piracy is all the layoffs, the wage freezes and the two and three moonlighting jobs that the employees at WB have to deal with. People who go to work everyday just like you and me.

Oh yes, without a doubt. When I put it on Youtube, they didn't challenge it at all. I was prepared to file a dispute form, but the vdeo was immediatly made public. They knew this would happen, and in one day alone it has almost 3k views.

I agree with this, I like the song but was expecting a bit more :shrug:

Hopefully this is a tease....

I Dowloaded my copy of the song from Mediafire...The link was on twitter...Did I Pre order from WB? NO... I will PAY for my copy of "In Your Dreams" when I BUY it in the store...Does it make a difference weather I pre order or buy it in the store?NO! I am still paying for it...The majority of the people that "stole" secret love WILL buy the record...Again WB knows exactly what it is doing...Why else would they offer a Free download 2 weeks before the single is to be released and a full 3 1/2 months before the album is released...If the entire album is leaked that is another story...

Fine Line
 

I think Warner Bros see this song as having a wider appeal than Stevie's fan base. In fact, we can assume that the CD itself might be something of great quality. The roadblock to success is of course her age, and the fact that radio now plays a far less role in creating hits.

In this case, I think WB is priming the market. Why else release a single so early from an aging artist? Why get her in front of a national TV audience to announce another tour? And why pair her with another popular star of her generation? And this new song going viral and being posted not just on YouTube but other popular (heavily-traffic) sites? They obviously want buzz to build so her age doesn't work against people hearing a great CD (and thus selling far more product than just assuming the work will only be of interest to Stevie fans.)

As I listen to the song on loop, I'm starting to here a bit of Alanis Morissette in it, which is the influence of not just Dave but Glenn Ballard.

I think it is...Secret love imo seems to be a very safe middle of the road,generic,designed to appeal to the masses kind of song...To quote another ledgie it doesn't scream "I'm Back Bitches"...

Very well said. WB knew in this digital age that as soon as the song was available for pre-order download that it would get out. If they didn't want the song to get out, they wouldn't have done that. If they simply wanted to let people hear the song without it being spread around, they would have come up with an ecrypted, password protected site where you could only stream the song... not download it. That's not what they did here. This is 21st Century promoting, folks.

Personally, I think every single Stevie fan should share the youtube link of Secret Love via the social networking sites you use. In other words, post it to your Facebook page so your friends, coworkers, and relatives might hear it. We want to help build excitment and spread the word about Stevie's new album. The youtube Secret Love has gotten 3,500 hits in 24 hours... and this is likely just from the hardest core Stevie fans. This can be a grass roots thing, y'all. Let's toot our girl's horn and spread the word... it's been ten LONG years!

I could have not said it better...As i said before...I respect Dave,but this whole Dave,Dave,Dave thing is getting a little annoying...He is self promoting...Dave is not the only one to have worked on the record...Dave co/produced with Glen Ballard and possibly others...This will all come out when we see the album credits...I am also hearing a little planets of the universe vibe to it...

I don't know how i would feel about putting it on my NicksianNation blog...It has gotten 1200 hits this week and im just starting to promote it ...

I'm so glad you said that, because I've been thinking that for a day now. Was Ballard an Alanis guy?

I adore the song!

BTW, the real litmus test on whether or not this was intentional would be to post the youtube link on the new WB Stevie Nicks FB page, with all of its 125,000 fans! :nod:

For those that don't know Glen Ballard Co-wrote and produced "Jagged Little Pill" By Allanis Morissette...Almost EVERY song on Jagged Little Pill has gotten substantial air-play...

What does this mean???

I try to see both sides, but I don't feel very sorry for Warner Brothers in this- Likely, many SN fans will buy more than one copy, because there has been more than rumours that a documentary of the making of the cd has been filmed, so that leaves the opportunity for a sale of a deluxe cd and dvd edition that is not yet being offered, and then all the people who have pre-ordered may need to buy the deluxe edition. I also think for a cd 4 months away, one mere download wasn't enough incentive- there should be either posters or lithographs, and likely there will be- which means that the diehards will need to order that edition, too.
Also, with stores like Target and Best Buy often offering either bonus songs elsewhere unavailable, or t-shirts, it is the collectors, or biggest fans of Stevie Nicks who will likely wind up with multiple copies of the cd, not the casual Youtube viewer, who will buy it once. Maybe. So, if youtube- free exposure, helps sell cds for a veteran artist, and it may, there's no reason to object to the song giving the album potential buyers.
As for 'torrents' taking a substantial chunk out of the porn industry- sorry, but I doubt it. This and the following isn't meant as harshly as it may 'read'.
-Exactly three people in the United States know how to download torrents, and two of them are on The Ledge! - a joke, and an exaggeration, but I was told by a billionaire years ago that torrents were 'already obsolete, with some loyal people hanging on, but it's the equivalent of Beta, don't bother with it', when I was bummed out I was having difficulty learning it.
I don't mean this smugly, but whatever concert ticket prices may be, tickets are purchased with credit cards. If your credit is good, a splurge on something better than the last row of section C is part of what credit cards are for, if 'down front' matters to you.
You can pay off as quickly or slowly as you like, as long as you make your minimum payments. If your cards don't have a $1000 limit left available for 2 primo Hollywood Bowl seats, one can hardly blame it on torrents or people getting their porn on their computers. Sorry.
How much money a person earns isn't all that relevant to what you pay for your concert experience when it goes on plastic. If you pay bills promptly, you can spend as much as you want, even if it's too much, at a concert. Just my opinion.

LOL. My second favorite quote of the month.:laugh:

Agreed. Plus this is a radio edit. I'm guessing that a full version will be available on IYD.

Yikes, Nik. This is the mentality of someone headed for major financial difficulties! At one time, I too thought that having a credit card was a way to spend money I didn't have. I found out differently the hard way. I had to work hard to get out from under my mountain of debt and it was painful. It took me years. I don't encourage anyone else to go down that destructive road... not even for Stevie.

Rooms on Fire was great. Rooms on Fire
BLAZED. Just for the record...

right there with talk to me, at least, in some
ways I think.

I'm actually thinking the next single, which
is evidently on february 3rd, will turn out
to be far superior to secret Love. stevie has
often held her best stuff for later revelation,
if you will.

I don't mean to change the subject, and I don't know about torrents specifically, but the internet has killed the porn industry. Why would anyone waste money on porn when there is so much free porn on the internet? But porn is different than music. Nobody really watches porn for the storylines. People just prefer to vary their viewing experience and it isn't so much about quality, but rather the actors looks. Music is completely different. People don't stop buying music because there is so much free music on the internet. There are specific artists people are interested in and willing to spend their money on. I think WB definitely wants this to leak. Why? Because most of Stevie's fans aren't the type who know how to download torrents. They aren't the people out there downloading pirated music. Most of Stevie's casual fans have a family and bills to pay and a full time job and they don't spend their life engulfed with the music industry or what Stevie Nicks is up to. But many of them have a facebook. Many of them have some interaction with the internet. Therefore, getting the new single out there on YouTube and having people spread it around, it is likely to reach those casual fans who wouldn't have gone out and looked for a new Stevie song on their own. By spending NO MONEY, WB is able to bring the song to people. People who are more likely to go buy an album rather than illegally download it. No matter what WB does, they can't completely prevent the album from being made available for illegal download, but they can use that knowledge to their benefit. They would be completely ignorant not to.

No. "Secret Love" is the single that will be released on February 3rd. We happened to get it early because of the pre-order special. Once Feb 3rd rolls around, it will see it's "official" release to radio stations, and maybe (if we're lucky) a CD single.

Here's the press release...

The new album is now available for fans to pre order at stevienicks.warnerreprise.com. Fans who pre-order the CD will receive an instant download of the record's first single, the Nicks’ penned "Secret Love”. The official release date of the single is February 3rd. Nicks is a multi-Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and member of Fleetwood Mac.

louie - you always get in first with my own opinions, haha!

Just reading that got me excited for some reason. I'd love to hear this thing on the radio at some point.

I remember before my fandom started, I had heard Say You Will and Peacekeeper on the radio, so when my dad got the CD, and I started getting into it, it was cool that I had already heard those songs.

From the riaa's website:

One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers' earnings, and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income and production taxes. For copies of the report, please visit www.ipi.org.

Taken from - http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php

Having said that, my one Gemini self has been beating my other Gemini self over the head since posting my disillusioning earlier post, so here's my opinion from the other side of the mirror (so to speak).

After telling several friends about this issue it has been pointed out to me that music companies such as WB have pulled audio from YouTube videos almost immediately when they are considered in violation. The Secret Love post was not exactly stealth. It wasn't embedded over someone's home movies or given a cleverly cryptic title to fly under the radar. It's pretty blatant and would surely be seen by someone at the powers that be. And with so many hits, it does appear to be causing a buzz. Perhaps this is why the released song was an edit rather than the full version. So people will be more inclined to buy the full version when it is released.

Mmmm, this foot tastes delicious. May I have a second helping.

While I don't wish harm on the music industry and I hate the fact that people lose revenue and jobs because of piracy, I absolutely hate some of the marketing practices of the big companies. It has always burned my britches that an album can be released and then two and sometimes three singles for the same song will come out each with different B-sides. I once paid upwards of $80 for on CD and a bunch of singles by Cocteau Twins for what could have been one really good double album. Yes, they made more money from me, but I felt really cheated as a consumer. And now with various retail stores offering different versions of albums and iTunes offering album only tracks I often still feel cheated. But that is the nature of things.

I'm also pretty pissed to hear that the advanced download of Secret Love is an edit. Sure, it's a market practice that is often used and may have been done knowing the song would be leaked but for those who spent the money on the pre-release it's a pretty ****ty thing to do. It's sad when the people who do the right thing are the ones who get screwed.

As a side note, I always had a great respect for Stevie in that manner for TimeSpace. She knew full well that giving fans three new songs and several remixed versions of existing songs that the new fans would not be affect by the changes and existing fans would not feel cheated for having to shell out money for songs they already owned. I think it was a perfect "greatest hits" CD.

Oh and Nikolaj, I appreciate your response. I, myself, due to some bad decisions and medial expenses in the past have bad credit, I have no credit cards and I live paycheck to paycheck. I blame nobody but myself and I make no excuses. But if I want to spend $500 for a really good concert ticket I have to start planning months ahead, perhaps give up a summer vacation or another large purchase. Sure, it can be done but not quite as easy as simply putting it on a piece of plastic. But I'll keep your advice for when I'm lucky enough to be in a better financial standing such as yourself.

By the way. I know a few of my posts here on The Ledge have ruffled a few feathers and I never mean to do that. I'm a very friendly guy and enjoy this board very much. I'm just very passionate about some things and when I get my gander up I go all soap box on things. Also, I think I've been taking out my frustrations here because when these subjects arise at work I can't really go off on my customers. So now that I've made my tirade about piracy I'll shut up now and keep my posts about pleasant Stevie things and save my rants for drunken nights with my friends.

I think they want this song out there too. Nothing has been taken down on any of the sites.

For just the sake of argument, (and I am not representing Warner Brothers), do those who believe WB demonstrates that it wished to have the album "spread about" (you can use other terms, but let's keep this friendly) by not having made special technical advances to prevent it's spread? To argue by analogy, if I don't put any anti-theft devices on my car, are you then free to "borrow it" or "take it" without my permission?

Again, I personally do not know WB intention, but some of you seem express that you do know. You might be right.

If they wanted it "out there" why didn't they just put it on YouTube themselves, or offer it as a free download to everyone?

forgive me if this has already been mentioned
i'm only on the 1st page here
but my inital thought when i heard about the "free" song
was that they WANTED it leaked
and for those of you complaining about how average it is
perhaps that was on purpose
like maybe Secret Love isn't actually ON the CD
but they recorded an extra song or 2 specifically TO leak
that way they could see what kind of "fan" reaction there was

If WB or even Stevie herself didn't want people to hear the song, they would not have done a pre-release download. They know the tremendous pent up demand amongst Stevie fans, but at the same time, Stevie's long inactivity works against her in regards to roping in new music buyers. WB is counting on the hardcore fans passing this song around and playing it for other people. And there is a tremendous difference between wanting to spread the song around, and spreading the album by the way. I'd never advocate spreading free copies of the album around. However, in the 21st Century, spreading this single around on youtube and facebook is pretty akin to hearing it on the radio in this day and age. After all, in a matter of weeks, the song will be released officially for radio consumption. Then possibly millions of people will be hearing the song for free... and possibly recording it for themselves for free. WB is simply priming the pump to build demand for radio play.

WB is no spring chicken... they know exactly what they're doing here. Stevie has been inactive in the records and recording industry for a full decade... WB has to convince people to listen to and buy Stevie music again. I'm guessing they feel that letting one song out of the bag and it possibly being passed around by folks is the best way to build grass roots momentum to promote Stevie's upcoming album. It's a small relative loss that they hope will equate gains down the road. I don't think WB or Stevie are getting taken advantage of at all... I think this whole deal is playing right into their hands. And like others have mentioned, we know 2 tracks are being cut from the album anyway... who's to say this is not one of them? :shrug: