Pirates force early release of Eminem album

Music pirates have forced Eminem to release his new album a week early.

The Eminem Show is being rushed through by record bosses to combat the growing number of pirate copies already in circulation.

The record, which is a follow up to The Marshall Mathers LP, will now go on sale in stores worldwide from May 27.

Max Hole, senior vice-president for marketing at Universal Music International, said: "We're disappointed that inferior pirated copies of The Eminem Show are in circulation, which is why we've decided to make the legitimate version available sooner than originally planned."

The first batches of the album will also include a bonus 45-minute DVD of unseen footage of Eminem in concert.