Dec 7, 2010 07:45 GMT  ·  By
Michael Jackson’s much-talked-about “Michael” album leaks online, one week ahead of release
   Michael Jackson’s much-talked-about “Michael” album leaks online, one week ahead of release

With only days to go until the “Michael” album from the late King of Pop officially arrives in music stores, Sony has a major problem on its hands, for the material has leaked online in its entirety.

TMZ reports that “Michael” is now online, all the 10 tracks on it, in full. Sony is yet to comment on the situation or even acknowledge that the tracks are genuine.

The album was scheduled for release on December 14 and, as it is, has already been subject to a lot of controversy.

“Michael Jackson’s highly anticipated new album is now the victim of music pirates... ALL 10 tracks from ‘Michael’ have leaked online - a week before its official release date,” TMZ reports.

“The tracks are now up on several file sharing websites and unless Sony Music authorized it – this is a clear case of illegal piracy,” the same report notes.

Clearly, chances of Sony giving a greenlight on the leak are slim to none – so this means they have someone on the inside who really wanted to make the album public before the big unveiling.

The leak comes shortly after a 30-second preview of every track also made it online, but this seems to have been authorized, the same media outlet informs in a separate post.

It’s not uncommon for major artists / record labels to release snippets of the tracks included on their latest material: and Sony is clearly not making an exception with Michael.

“It’s another Michael Jackson mega-tease – 10 brand new snippets from every song on the upcoming album have gone public... just days before the album is set for release,” TMZ notes.

Of course, also included are snippets of the tracks fans have already heard, like “Much Too Soon,” “Hold My Hand” and “Breaking News.”

“30 seconds from each song appeared on the Internet this weekend – which adds up to a pretty [awesome] five-minute preview of the new album titled, ‘Michael’,” TMZ also says.

To check out the preview of the album, see the TMZ post here. For more details on the leak and what Sony has to say about it, keep an eye on this space.