The Game intentionally leaks his album

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the innovation that is occurring in music marketing is occurring in hip hop. Proving this point, Allhiphop.com is reporting on how The Game has recently intentionally leaked the clean version of his forthcoming album. Further, The Game says that this isn’t some new idea. He did the same thing for his last album, The Documentary. And while the labels (presumably The Game’s own label, Interscope, which is owned by Universal) are constantly bemoaning the negative affect leaked albums (etc.) have on sales, it didn’t seem to have hurt The Game the last time around – The Documentary has sold over 5 million copies. I would guess this sales figure is why Universal is not attempting to stop The Game from doing this a second time. Universal is, of course, the label that threatened to sue YouTube out of business just prior to investing in YouTube only hours before the Google acquisition. Man, it’s a fascinating time to be in the music business!