What’s the old cliché, the only thing that remains the same is that everything changes? Arts & Crafts have decided to be the first independent label to accept, if not embrace, the changes that have been glaringly evident for some time now.

Increasingly over the past few years it’s been easy to find almost any release one could imagine somewhere online, and even more surprising if an album is not leaked months before its proper release date. Interpol desperately tried to control leaks this year, which ultimately failed, as was the case with the Smashing Pumpkins and their first release in seven years. These leaks often coincide with the dispersal of advanced copies of an album from the label and other publicity sources out into the worlds of music journalism, college and mainstream radio, and advertising. While some labels have tried to combat change by only sending out links to journalists which lead them to streamed copies of the album, there doesn’t seem to be a surefire way to avoid an album slipping out of ‘the proper hands’ and into the vast landscape of the internet.

Discussing the way things are ‘usually handled’ with regards to new releases, more specifically to the newest of Stars’ catalog, In Our Bedroom After the War, Jeffrey Remedios wrote on the Arts & Crafts website this morning, “Traditional music business practice says we are to begin sending out copies of this album now. We give advance copies to print publications in hopes of securing features that coincide with our September date. We meet with radio stations in hopes of securing airplay. etc, etc.

“Inevitably someone will leak the album.”

Recognizing not only that controlling leaks is damned near impossible, that convention not only hurts the bands whose albums are being downloaded, but also creates a hierarchy of media sources — and Arts & Crafts are well aware of the power of students’ blogs and independently owned websites and magazines — the label has decided to give fans the chance to support the band by purchasing a digital copy of the Stars album before the slated September 25th release date. This also gives those of us who aren’t on the label’s mailing list a chance to hear the album at the same time as the New York Times’ music editor, to get a review up onto our websites in a timely fashion, and to not have to rely on leaks so that reviews don’t appear weeks after the actual release date.

I personally believe this is one of the smartest moves a record label has made in a long time, the venture also reflecting Stars’ longstanding willingness to push convention to ensure that their supporters never forget how much the band appreciates their loyalty.

“It’s our hope that given a clear, legal alternative to downloading music for free, you will choose to support the creators,” Remedios closed out this morning’s news post. I hope along with him, for I know that my philosophy of purchasing physical copies of records that I’ve found myself in digital possession of well before the proper release date isn’t a wholly embraced one. But, if others follow Arts & Crafts’ brave first steps, we might find ourselves a little closer to a world where people can choose to do the right thing. Trusting in the moral compasses of others has always been precarious, but without risk there’s little chance of breaking convention.

Recent reviews by lars garvey

• Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
• The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
• Cut City - Exit Decades
• Reign Over Me
• Asha Ali - S/T