This morning, the Village Voice published a fascinating story about Alan Carton, the young man behind Did It Leak. Carton died on January 16th after a long and relentless battle with cancer. He was 23.
Constantly toeing the line between supporting ravenous music fans and breaking the laws protecting the copyright holders, Carton managed a constantly updated feed simply informing subscribers when a new album had slipped onto the ether. It was an immensely valuable tool. The big dirty secret of music “acquisition” is that there is and always will be an infinite number of sources for music, legal and otherwise. The where is never the hard part. It’s the what and when that are the challenges, and Carton was one of the best sources for both.
Carton ran Did It Leak anonymously from Vancouver. No one had any idea the man behind it was battling cancer, and when we noticed no new posts since January 5th’s announcement that the new Vampire Weekend had been shat onto the internet, record industry pressure was our first and only guess.
From what we’ve been reading about Carton, he was a true fan of music. Literally, to the death. Fearless, his first reaction to learning he had cancer was “whatever.” He was defiant, convinced he could overcome it as had a hero of his who jogged across Canada after losing a leg. At age 20, when lung surgery that would leave him strapped to an oxygen mask was postponed, Alan was just relieved he’d be able to head to Calgary for a concert with his friends.
Despite knowing his fate was sealed, Alan studied sound design at Vancouver Film School. He told no one he had cancer, not the admissions board nor his friends. He would fly to Edmonton every weekend for doctor’s visits, and then back to Vancouver every Monday morning.
He stayed focused on life, on enjoying the little he had left, and on running Did It Leak, through to the end. We feel a great loss, not as music downloaders, but as music fans. Alan really was one of us.
Read the full story over at the Village Voice Sound Of The City Blog. Thanks to Rob Sheridan for the tip.
Never heard of this gentleman until today. Sorry to have missed out on knowing the music fan that he was.
I’m missing the part about his contribution to music…exactly what did he do other than bring more attention to stealing music? Sorry that he died a painful and drawn out death but he added nothing to the world of music, he took from it. He loved music so much he aided in its theft until his last breath? How noble of him. J Dilla was making beats on his death bed, Warren Zevon was recording his last album up until he couldn’t function, Vic Chestnutt was prolific from a wheelchair…and this is what you write about?
interesting story, but this whole “riaa defying” angle is pretty silly, to my knowledge, there is absolutely nothing illegal about what he was doing. he was simply informing on what was out there, he didnt provide links or tell how or where to download them.
ajay, we’ve given props to dilla and chestnutt here… and though he ain’t our cup of meat, we’ve got nothing bad to say about zevon. this is what we write about? it’s all what we write about. and regardless, my affinity for this kid was not based on any “contribution,” a point i thought i had clearly made. it’s based on the fact that this kid was one of us. if any of us found ourselves on our deathbeds tomorrow, we’d all have forthcoming albums in the front of our minds… hoping we’d live just long enough to hear them. that’s heavy, and a testament to the value of music. so it’s not about what alan did for music, it’s about what music was to him, and we’re just tipping the bottle in his honor, acknowledging that we probably would have gotten along with the kid. who died way too young.
and tom, i’m with you on the “riaa defying” angle… i tried not to go there too hard with it. maybe i’m a little shellshocked from running afoul of that authority. i completely agree that nothing he did was illegal. but that rarely matters when parties with tons of cash don’t like what some poor kid in bumblefuck is doing to their business model. he was toeing the line, like i said. he doesn’t get any extra credit for doing that, but he did provide a valuable service at the risk of pissing off people with well paid lawyers that can be a pain in the ass even if you manage to get away in the end.
man, this story bums me out. had no idea who the kid was, but followed him relentlessly on the twits.
oh sorry skwerl, meant the angle of the village voice piece was silly, i thought your take was appropriate
drink a beet for him today~
word.
he’s gone and he’s still not done tweeting new leaks
yeah, i noticed that. diditleak lives on.
that was ment to be beer! …. I hope yo’s all got that and didn’t really drink a beet. don’t be doug funny
fuck, i drank a beet.
Oh right on, he was from the same city as me. Ill drink a beet for sure then.
it is so easy for someone like ajay to write derogatory
comments… alan was a better young man than you will ever be and I do so hope we get to meet. He was actually N. Irish but grew up and lived in Edmonton, spent a couple of yrs in Vancouver, returning to Edmonton. did it leak is dead though someone has started a copycat site. imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…
should we shoot the newsreader or the person who caused the news??
Did it leak is now defunct.
I have just started http://www.leaksallday.com to pick up where he left off. Please visit and support us. We will be rapidly growing in the coming weeks.
Leaks All Day
The Definitive Source for Album Leaks
Stay tuned for more info
DRINK A BEET FOR ALAN. WE CAN ALL BE DOUG FUNNIE
[...] The Life And Death Of Alan Carton [...]
Damn I just read my comment and I feel like a total prick. All he wanted to do was share his love of music with people. My apologies Skewrl.