LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears has brought forward the release date of her long-awaited comeback album by two weeks after a string of illegal leaks hit the Internet, her record company said Wednesday.
Jive Records said in a statement that Spears' album -- "Blackout" -- would now go on sale on October 30 after songs and demos from the record were distributed online.
"Due to these numerous unauthorized on-line leaks, the label is doing everything possible to prevent and avoid any further illegal distribution of songs including moving up the release date of the album to October 30th," a statement from Jive Records said.
Spears' hopes of relaunching her career may hinge on the success of the new album, which comes after a period of turmoil in the pop princess's private life that last week saw her lose custody of her two children.
It followed a disastrous public performance in September at the MTV Video Music Awards to showcase her new single "Gimme More" which was widely lambasted as "lackluster, bumbling and underwhelming."
rcw/lt
10/10/2007 19:20 GMT