According to published
reports, in order to avoid his material being pirated, Eminem will finish his
new album Encore shortly before it is scheduled to go on sale.
Representatives
at Universal said he was using the tactic to prevent bootleggers and internet
piracy from cutting into his record sales.
Sources at Universal
said the security for releasing the album has been taken to the highest levels,
in an attempt to prevent the album from leaking.
Universal pushed
up the release of The Eminem Show in 2002, as it was being heavily
traded on the internet and sold on the streets illegally.
The label also
limited the availability of Eminem’s single, "Without Me," to ensure
it did not "fall into the wrong hands."
Additionally, the
label leaked instrumentals of The Eminem Show in an attempt to confuse those
attempting to download the album illegally.
To ensure the album
wasn’t pirated after its release, Universal embedded “uncrackable”
copyright protection technology. Less than a month after the album dropped,
pirated copies were on sale across Eastern Europe.
