Unreleased Lady Gaga Tracks Sneak Onto Streaming Services

At least three unreleased versions of Lady Gaga songs have surfaced on streaming services, listed under her real name, Stefani Germanotta, with no mention of her stage name.

The three songs under that heading are purported different mixes or versions of two previously released songs, “Perfect Illusion” and “Fashion,” as well as an unreleased 2007 song called “Retro Physical” that Gagapedia states is a collaboration with producer Noize Trip that has been making the rounds online for many years; that song is very much in the vein of her 2008 debut album, “The Fame.”

The other two sound like early versions of the officially released songs. “Fashion” is listed as a demo, though it plays as a slightly sped-up version of the Gaga song included on 2009’s “Confessions of a Shopaholic” soundtrack. Some have speculated that the “Perfect Illusion” demo was made with AI, and initially released as a fan prank when the track came out in 2016. Regardless, the timing is certainly notable as “Perfect Illusion,” which had been absent from streaming services, was added back a few days ago.

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Reps for the services did not immediately have comment, but such sneak uploads are common and challenging for streaming services to police due to the millions of tracks being uploaded to the platforms every day — multiple sources cite as many as 125,000, and probably more. The most brazen example of such a release may be a full album of mostly unreleased R. Kelly material called “I Admit” that was released by a legitimate, long-running hip-hop label called Real Talk Entertainment. Reps for both Kelly (who has been in prison since 2019) and his longtime label Sony claimed no involvement with the release; the album was removed shortly after the services were widely alerted to its existence.

Such a fate seems likely for these versions as well.

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Jenniffer Sheldon

Update: 2024-07-07

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