When The Sun runs a story that an unreleased Leona Lewis song has been stolen by “hackers” from computers at Simon Cowell’s Syco label, one tends smells a pre-release publicity stunt. But, paidContent:UK is assured by both the IFPI, BPI and Syco parent Sony (NYSE: SNE) Music that a genuine international police hunt is now underway…
We are told the incident involves not just an unmastered collaboration between X-Factor winner Lewis and Justin Timberlake, but also material from her X-Factor successor Alexandra Burke, and possibly others. Sony Music says: “We’ve pinned down two separate systems that it’s come from. It’s more than one track from each of them.”
The labels tells paidContent:UK “international police and American police” are investigating, in tandem with both the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry and the British Phonographic Industry. We understand the investigation is centreing on specific individuals within Syco.
“There are various networks that have been earmarked and are at the centre of these investigations,” Sony Music’s spokesperson says.