Lady Gaga's latest single Applause was rush-released to radio stations and Apple's iTunes Store in the US in what the singer declared as a "pop music emergency", on Monday evening.The fast move from Lady Gaga's label Universal Music comes after the first tune from her new album ARTPOP was leaked online.
Lady Gaga was planning to officially release the single on August 19, but decided to push its availability forward in light of the circumstances. "A POP MUSIC EMERGENCY IS UNDERWAY 911" tweeted the star on Monday, followed by an array of posts in eye-catching capital letters.
"MY NEW SINGLE 'APPLAUSE' IS OUT TODAY AND CAN BE HEARD ON UNITED STATES RADIO IN 15 MINUTES. INTERNATIONAL RADIO TO FOLLOW."POP MUSIC EMERGENCY #0DAYSTillAPPLAUSE MY NEW SINGLE COMES OUT TODAY. 911 SPREAD THIS MESSAGE."
© Photo: Getty ImagesLady Gaga, 27, was supported in her moment of need by her fervent fans, who were the first to take up the battle to keep the song under wraps.
A campaign by fans from Gaga's Little Monsters website encouraged the community to report any site spotted distributing or linking to leaked snippets of her single.
Nearly 2,500 fans went on cyber duty, retweeting a link to Universal's takedown page, with one fan boasting of having notified Lady Gaga's label about 500 infringing links in a single evening.
The Born This Way star was clearly delighted by her "monsters", tweeting her almost-40 million followers to praise them: "I LOVE BEING A POPSTAR! WE ARE CHEERING FOR YOU MONSTERS, STANDING OVATION FOR THE WORLDS MOST AMAZING FANS!"
