Rapidshare? Is that the same Rapidshare that’s one of the biggest venues for online music piracy? Absolutely. Label Earache Records has cut a deal to make the new album by thrash metal band Gama Bomb available through the site on 5 November, three months before the release of a CD version with extra tracks.”The idea is for the greater good, to give fans a taste of Gama Bomb for free, legally,” says Earache MD Digby Pearson. “Actually, the cost saving of distribution through the internet is a big incentive for us. Piracy is not a problem, because if a fan passes on the download link it can also be seen as free promotion for the band.”It’s not the first example of music being legitimately distributed using a service more often associated with piracy (it’s important to be accurate here: Rapidshare itself is not an illegal service). But it’s one of the more high-profile examples of a label doing it.Not heard Gama Bomb? Be our guest:
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