eli5 : how do super high profile artists get their songs leaked?

Question

How does that happen? I imagine artists (like Ariana grande) who must invest so much money into their projects and have the resources to get the best protection possible still get their songs leaked months sometimes years before they are set to release? Are they being hacked? do trusted people that work on the music secretly release it themselves? Do the leakers do it just cause or for money somehow? Do artists do it themselves to test out public reaction?

In: Other

Answer 1

Hacks, trusted people violate that trust for money, social engineering, stealing (sometimes just straight up stealing a hard drive or laptop). It can be a lot of things. The risk goes up as more people work on the album, which is the case when you’re Ariana