It proved to be a rather mixed weekend for Two Door Cinema Club – first guitarist and singer Alex Trimble got to perform at the Olympic opening ceremony, and then they discovered that their Beacon album had been leaked on to the ‘net a month ahead of its release.
In an eloquently worded public letter, Trimble has asked fans to consider the impact illegally downloading the record will have on the band.
“I’m aware that Beacon has leaked,” he says. “In this day and age it was inevitable but I’d just like to urge you all to do the right thing. I’ve seen an overwhelming response from so many of you saying that you’ll avoid the links and wait until September and for that I can’t thank you enough.
 It’s out there and it’s up to you to make the decision.
 One decision supports the music you love; gives it strength, longevity and respect.
 The other, slowly but surely, will destroy the music you love.

“I don’t want to preach or give you a moral essay… although I may well do… OK, here it comes. 
One thing I understand is that a lot of younger people have grown up with the idea that this is OK. They don’t know any better. For most of their lives, music has been free and available whenever they want it. 
And when something becomes a normality it stops feeling wrong. But it doesn’t and won’t ever stop it being wrong. 

“I’m an independent artist. I don’t have big label money behind me to support me until I sell 30 million records or get a reality TV show. We, Two Door, do everything ourselves and pay for everything ourselves so we rely on YOU to support us. That’s the way we like it, that’s the way we wish it could stay. 
Because that way, we have control. That way we can do what we want and most importantly, give you guys what you want. The best shows possible, good records made with love over time and a true connection between us.
 I’m not a rich man, nor do I wish to be. I make enough to pay my bills and then every other penny goes back into Two Door; into making things happen.
 Paying for shows, travel, wages, promotion, production, recording… it’s not cheap! So what money we make, we use to pay for the next thing.
“We’re not raking in profits like I’m sure many of you expect.
 It sounds awfully corny but we’re not in this for the money. Truly. We’re in this for the love. The joy we feel making music, the joy we bring to other people. 
But… we need to make money to keep doing this.
 We give so much to what we do.
 In our live shows we focus on every detail. We don’t leave it up to anyone else because we want to give you the best night we can.
 We take our time to get the right support acts, the perfect light show, the best sound, setlist, venue and it all comes at a price.
 At every show we need to pay for the venue hire, PA hire, lighting hire, crew costs, travel costs, support band fees, rider costs, catering for all the people involved – they gotta eat! Then we pay our agent and managers a percentage of what we make for the wonderful work they do and the amazing help and support they provide us with.
 At the same time, we try to keep our ticket prices as low as possible because we want these shows to be accessible to everyone. 
As a result, we very rarely make a profit from live shows. In fact, we often lose money. Any profit we do make goes straight towards paying for the next show.

And with records… well… it’s obvious. We pour time, effort, love and, of course, money into making a record that we are proud to share with the world, only to have it stolen away from us. It’s not a nice feeling I can tell you.
 So please, wait until September. That’s when we want you to hear it. In all its glory - dazzling artwork and all! Wait for it. Give it meaning, purpose, respect and love. In this world we get almost everything we want whenever we want it and if we continue to live like that, we will lose our sense of wonder, our sense of what makes us and this world so special. 
If what I have written doesn’t change your mind, then download it and enjoy it while it lasts.”