In 2011, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) was introduced to help U.S. law enforcement combat online piracy. And for the remainder of that year, the bill achieved a bit of success. However, in 2015, it has seemingly only gotten worse; now, no one is safe from the internet. We saw that with many celebrities having their private photos leaked, and also with movies being leaked far before their initial intended release. The biggest concern regarding to leaks exists among artists, however.

Rappers talk about beef they have with other rappers, meanwhile, their biggest enemy is the same thing that sometimes puts them on the map: the internet. Like a lot of things, it’s very difficult– impossible– to hide anything from the internet, and that does not exclude albums released by artists.

In order to understand the profound affect leaks have in music, be it bad or even good, one must understand how these leaks occur to begin with.

In the past, the only kinds of leaks that occurred were due to old-fashioned theft. Someone would be looking through trash, looking specifically for CD’s in this case, which would have demos, possible singles, etc. on them. However now, because of the advent of the internet and cloud-based sharing, finding early releases has become easy for those looking.

Major labels typically watermark their early releases with individualized codes that provide high security, but are not impenetrable. And when albums are ready for release or pre-release, the record is sometimes found through digital service providers, which are normally used to send albums to its intended outlet (iTunes, Spotify, etc.).

Recently, rapper A$AP Rocky released his album AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP. The album was released earlier than anticipated because the album had been found online. To many artists such as Rocky, these leaks only prove to be an inconvenience. There are inherent problems with leaks — the theft/money-stealing factor has a large part in that– that are ruining the music industry.

Sure, a lot of these album still gross a lot with their album releases, especially to very popular artists, but the practice of leaking as a whole is a dishonest, brutal one for up-and-coming artists.

No matter which way you look at it, however, it seems leaks are very much a part of the music industry as the industry as the music itself. And surprisingly enough, some artists are very open to leaks, and even embrace it.

Well-known rapper Drake is quite open to the leaks of his albums. In an interview with Billboard, he told them he’s a fan of leaks, so long as they’re not too far in advance. “Giving people the opportunity to judge before they go and buy, I think that can only help.” And he’s not alone; many artists feel the same way. Where many artists would be mad, some like Katy Perry playfully embrace the leaking, only concerned about the fans enjoying the music.

Artists who embrace leaks, as you can see, are most often the ones who care the most about their fans, rather than concern themselves so much with the profits. Chance the Rapper, a rapper popular among many people, does not even have a presence on iTunes (aside from features). Chance is a firm believer in the idea that music should be “for the people” and continues to express that in his releases.

The age of the internet has changed the mentality many artists have regarding leaks, but still remains a conflict to artists. It will be interesting how leaks will continue to affect the music industry in the coming years and how the government will respond, as the possibility of an album leak only increases.