If you’re on Facebook, Twitter.. online even really, or maybe just alive, then chances are that you heard about the pics that were leaked online last week…

If we are to believe everything we read Cassie and Rihanna need to watch where they leave their phones and or computers!

Quick as a flash – Lenny Kravitz posted this pic via Twitter;
“Can’t a guy take a shower in peace? Fair game. They got me.”

Good move!

But that made us think…is this a publicity stunt by both artists?

Back in 97…what seemed like a genuine holiday video sparked the now acceptable “sex tape” movement (see here).

Pam and Tommy were apparently just two kids in love, and putting it on tape as a private memory… But it’s sparked a revolution. After that…it seems like a sex tape is the acceptable move to keep your name in the press!

Let’s face facts…record sales are slowing down, advertising and sponsorship spending is being cut due to lack of its effectiveness and the ‘financial crisis’(I’ll save that attack for another day)…so any publicity is good publicity right?

Even in Rihanna’s case – her people end up moving quicker to dispel the source of naked photos, than they were to discuss her alleged domestic abuse.

Like the sex tape industry, the naked picuture industry is booming as well, with countless young stars and wannabe’s leaving their harddrives on a table in Starbucks.. just in case. The names are countless and too many to mention, but, like the sex tapes, these pictures have become more or less the norm. Even for the youngest ones, like Miley Cyrus, though her pics were only dubbed “sexy”.

The term is “self shot”, have you tried googling it recently (with the filters off)?
Try it, you might find your teenage daughter, or sister… But we’re not moralities gatekeepers here at BANDIT. Because when it comes down to it, it’s really just the natural development of things. When you throw in hormones, mirrors, camera phones, boys, being a teenager, MMS, web cameras, alcohol and so on in the mix, then this is the outcome.

The funny thing is that we don’t really see it from the guys. Sure they can do official photos all dolled up, showing off their sixpacks. But the pictures they send back to the Vanessa Hudgens of this world, never really seem to hit the blogs.

It’s not because they don’t exist – because let’s be real here folks – if you convince a girl to mms you a few pics, you’d better have something to trade with (and pray that your mom blessed you with something that’s photo worthy). But it’s somehow not interesting enough for the public eye.

Here’s French footballer Nicolas Anelka as one of the few examples the press did run with…

So we’re left with girls and women of all ages trying to promote themselves in the simplest, and maybe most effective. way there is.
Nude.

In the Rihanna and Cassie story there is really no doubt in our minds that it was done as self promotion, but that is theory – another thing is fact.

“Either way, Cassie is topless in these pictures, she’s claiming that someone hacked her computer, bullshit, the reality is that these pictures, along with pictures of Rihanna topless were sent to me 6 or 7 months ago up for sale at something like 5k for the set. I tried to get people I know with money to buy in, but I woulda got sued regardless, so I’d rather use any 5k I can squeeze out of people on hookers, booze and cocaine. True story.”
Drunken Stepfather.com

Now the man is clearly neither a Cassie or Diddy fan, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that he is legit. So that really proves our point for us, doesn’t it.

All that’s really left to do is to wait and see if this has any effect on the two ladies records sales.

We say no, and here’s why. Nudity, porn and so on is now mainstream.

You may not like that fact, but it is none the less the truth.

So what impact will a few pictures have on people buying music? None.
But it may have an effect on their public image, especially for Cassie. You may never have heard about her before reading this blog, that’s one point in her book. But will the public interest in a few nipple shots, ultimately turn into records sales?
No.
But it might land her a spot on Dancing With The Stars.

For Rihanna it’s a different a bit more complex story. Because she doesn’t really need this kind of exposure..unless..

Now bare with me, this is a thought experiment.

What if this is the “positive” spin she needs after the Chris Brown affair. It’s edgy i know, but edgy enough to work? I think so.

BANDIT