After keeping a tight lid on the promotion of its latest album, U2’s No Line On the Horizon was digitally released nine days too early on an Australian music website, according to the U.K.’s Web User.
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After keeping a tight lid on the promotion of its latest album, U2’s No Line On the Horizon was digitally released nine days too early on an Australian music website, according to the U.K.’s Web User.
Upon noticing the error, Getmusic.com.au quickly removed the album, but the damage had already been done. Blogs have posted proof of purchase screen-grabs, Billboard says, and the availability of Horizon is now widespread through file sharing networks.
The album officially debuts February 27, and Universal Music went out of its way to save the new music for then. No promotional tracks were submitted to reviewers, Billboard says; instead, critics had to visit “listening parties.”
Universal Music and U2 are still sulking as they’ve made no official comments regarding the situation.
They’re probably too busy experiencing déjà vu because, in 2004, U2’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb album suffered from leaky pipes, too.
