In the digital age, new albums often "leak" onto the internet about 1 month before they're released.  This typically happens when a journalists burns his/her promo CD and releases it to a file share network or mp3 website.  simplemp3s.com is a good example of a site that always has stuff weeks before its due out.  Since leaking is becoming so common, I've often wondered why music companies don't watermark their files.  They only release a limited number of promo copies, so it seems it would be easy enough to run the album through a few filters prior to each burn that would give each track a "signature."  It would have to be audible, since various file formats remove high/low frequencies, and it would have to be subtle enough not to ruin the song.  But once this is done, it would be simple enough to trace it back to the user they first shipped it to.

I'm not the only one with this idea, it seems, as Sony has finally gotten their act together in time for the release of Oasis's new album, Don't Believe The Truth.  Good news for artists, bad news for me -- but way past due.

In another counter-piracy move, I remember that No Doubt released Rocksteady early with 30 second clips mixed into 3-4 minute songs to prevent pirating.  Instead, it prevented me from buying the album because I thought it was complete $&*#$.  And when John Bliss told me that he'd bought Rocksteady and it was great, I thought he was either insane or had very low standards.  It wasn't until their second single was released on the radio that I realized I'd been duped.

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