Madonna's 'Rebel Heart' Leak Scandal is a Pop Anomaly

When I was in college in the mid-2000s, I often frequented blogs and LiveJournal communities that would post URLs to albums (mostly indie) that leaked. It was a thrill to download the newest Beach House or of Montreal record weeks, and often times months, in advance of their scheduled release date. But times have changed, thanks to the damn RIAA, and it's become increasingly rare for any album, albeit a high profile indie record or a full fledge mainstream pop album, to leak more than a few weeks ahead of time. Example: Taylor Swift's "1989" made its way online just about four days before it hit stores.

But unfortunately for Madonna, her upcoming thirteenth studio album leaked earlier in December, months before any concrete information was released about the LP. After two tracks leaked in November, 13 demos and unfinished songs surfaced on the Internet on Dec. 17.

A very upset Madonna responded to the leaks by taking to Instagram, calling the incident "artistic rape" and a form of "terrorism" in a now-deleted post. But in another post, she thanked her fans and declared most of the songs wouldn't even make the album. Fast forward a few days, and the Material Girl officially titled her album "Rebel Heart," gave it some artwork and set a release date for March 10. Also to combat the leaks, she released six songs on iTunes and Spotify, and said the tracks were a Christmas present to her fans. She also said more music would be made available on Feb. 9, 2015 -- about a month before the entire record comes out.

After a few days, things quieted down as people digested the new music and most assumed the leaking was over. But no. On Tuesday, fourteen more demos leaked, and then two more tracks the next day, revealing a track featuring Pharrell Williams called "Back That Up (Do It)."

It's unclear if any of these songs (or some of the tracks leaked earlier this month) will end up on "Rebel Heart," but the leaking of these cuts are an anomaly in the music world. In my time being heavily obsessed with music, and music leaks, this is the first time I can think of an album from a high-profiled pop star leaking before the LP even had a title or release date. I haven't even seen this happen to a small indie band who don't have tight security and probably leave their album lying around on a thumb drive.

It's a bit unfortunate, though; it takes the control away from the Queen of Pop and her team, forcing her hand to settle on a release date, album art and a single. Instead of a well-thought-out media attack, Madonna is backed into a corner and has to switch to Plan B. In recent interviews, Madonna said that she didn't plan to drop a single until mid-February, but because of the leak, she put up the six songs, including that single, "Living For Love."

Since early 2014, Madonna has been hinting on her follow up to her lackluster 2012 effort "MDNA," revealing she was working with a number of au courant producers like Diplo (who has worked with everyone from M.I.A., Britney Spears, Beyonce and Usher), EDM-country DJ Avicci and Blood Diamonds, an indie electronic producer who is signed to dubstep prince Skrillex's label and is also good friends with Grimes.

Later on in the year, it was also revealed that she was working with the upcoming twisted pop musician SOPHIE on a song, and that she teamed up with pop writer titan Ryan Tedder. With all these collaborations, it was easy to get excited -- it didn't seem like Madonna was going through the motions, working on a new record to just collect a check, unlike some other pop divas (*cough*BritneySpears*cough*). This time around, it actually felt like she was going for it and taking some risky chances with production and songwriting.

After listening to the six new official songs, however, it doesn't seem like there is a big payoff by working with these "out there" producers. But still, the results end up being pretty sharp. "Living for Love," as one EDGE editor put it, sounds like Madonna's take on a Lady Gaga song doing Madonna.

Of all the new songs, "Living for Love" is at the top of the bunch, and probably her best single since "Hung Up." It was co-written by Alicia Keys and pop's secret weapon Ariel Rechtshaid and produced by Diplo. It's a soulful and a soaring uplifting thumper, anchored by Keys' crisp piano. It's inoffensive, but most likely not strong enough to make an impact on Billboard's Top 40, despite the leaking controversy surrounding it.

"Bitch I'm Madonna," is another stand out and could possibly be a single, thanks to an excellent feature by Nicki Minaj. It's one of the tracks to mirror the zeitgeist as Diplo and SOPHIE produced it. It's zany, sharp and catchy with stabbing synths and handclaps exploding over Madonna's modified vocals. It may not work on all levels, but as a music fan, hats are off to the 56-year-old singer at trying something truly weird and new.

"Devil Pray," a song Avicii and Blood Diamonds worked on, is unfortunately pretty embarrassing (a lyric about sniffing glue? Really?) and finds Madonna following Avicii's folk-EDM sound, which will be really played out by March 2015. Then there's the meta "Illuminati," where Madonna addresses the conspiracy theory that A-listers like herself are members of the devil-worshiping group. It's wild and dark but still playful and the cut was surprisingly co-produced by Kanye West. After learning that, the song clicks into place.

The other two tracks, "Ghosttown" and "Unapologetic Bitch," a spacious minimal ballad and an awkward reggae infused pop jam headed by Diplo, don't fit with the other four songs, making the collection of six a bit scatterbrained. But that's how a lot of pop albums go -- artists want to offer as much up as they can for everyone. But at least Madonna is trying out sounds and styles some singers wouldn't ever dare.

Madonna and co. are still hunting down the source of the leak, but my guess is it's someone on the inside who had access to these locked away track workings -- perhaps someone from her label, Interscope. Although her remarks about the leaks may have been a bit extreme, it is understandably frustrating to have something you've been working on be shared when it's not ready.

It probably wouldn't have been so bad if Madonna was phoning it in like she did on "MDNA," but on "Rebel Heart" it appears she's making an attempt to make some noise (it did go to no. 1 on iTunes, after all). And that's more admirable than putting in a request for Max Martin.