You would think at some point in the 15 years since the RIAA sued Napster that the music industry would've figured out a way to dissuade internet users from illegally downloading or torrenting music. The closest thing they have come to thus far is guilt. And surprisingly, it wasn't Thom Yorke or Metallica shaming listeners for their actions. It was reality television star RuPaul.
RuPaul will be releasing his sixth album, Born Naked, soon and he aimed to beat illegal downloaders to the punch by uploading a decoy version of the album onto prominent torrenting sites. What does a decoy album do to downloaders? It shames them.
"Girrrrl, you done stole my album!" says the voice of RuPaul when the downloader goes to open the files, before delving into how if they truly respected him, they would drop a couple bucks and buy the thing. "The real political power is right up here on the cash register."
We try to avoid stacking too many quotes, but the man who thus far has had the most success in turning off song thieves deserves to explain his process.
"We work so hard on this music," he said. "So we thought, why not flood the torrents with a decoy album that educates consumers on why it's important to buy music."
In the same way that your grandmother educates you on why stealing an extra cookie from the jar: by laying on pounds of guilt. The guilty parties admitted to their faults on social media.
"I DOWNLOADED THE WHOLE ALBUM ILLEGALLY," wrote one user on Instagram, as cited by Digital Music News. "AND THERE IS RUPAUL ON THIS TRACK TELLING ME TO BUY IT OH MY GOD I AM SO EMBARRASSED RIGHT NOW."
