Jay-Z’s highly anticipated “Blueprint 3” will be available as an illegal download and bootleg CD on Saturday, September 5, according to a conglomerate of music pirates.
“Our ability to leak this album digitally across thousands of blogs, torrents and P2P networks, as well as physically in barbershops, at swap meets and on sidewalk blankets gives us a marked advantage over other retailers,” said Chikere, a New Jersey-based pirate. “And with bootleg CDs carrying a suggested retail price of five dollars and downloads available for as little as free, it almost isn’t fair.”
Bootleg CD Cover
A multi-platform marketing blitz, including leaks of hastily Xeroxed copies of the album artwork and shaky camcorder clip of the video for the album’s lead single has only increased the buzz on this highly-anticipated bootleg. “We’ve also got to thank Live Nation for “leaking” every development of this release to blogs, from the single and its cover art, to the album cover art and tracklist, the first video preview, the second video preview, even the press release about the full video’s debut,” said Chikere. “Hyping up this release online, the very place where we’ll be offering it at no cost, is really advantageous to bootleggers worldwide.”
“It’s amazing to think that just five years ago, more people were buying CDs than downloading them illegally. With this release, I can imagine a day when the only people buying CDs are the record labels themselves,” said Chikere.
