Today is the day you’ll always remember. The day you got to hear the most eagerly anticipated album in pop history, via a stream on a free Tory newspaper’s website. Is this a good thing? What do Metro, Gaga and the fans get out of such an arrangement? Does it matter? And where did we put the car keys?

Personally speaking, we can take or leave Lady Gaga. We know we’re not supposed to say that. But while we enjoyed the singles from The Fame/Fame Monster album(s), we’re finding it hard to be impressed by all the things other people are impressed by. The daft clothes, self-aggrandising or arty statements, apparently shocking videos and all of the hoo-ha frankly doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if the music doesn’t shake us to our very foundation. And it doesn’t. It’s just... alright. And some of it sounds, as a friend of ours pointed out, a bit like Roxette.

But as pop obsessives, we are fascinated by the Gaga phenomena. So we can’t help puzzling over this decision to legally leak the Born This Way album in such a mundane and slightly grubby way (we’d normally fling Metro to the floor if we found it soiling our Tube seat).

What deal was done between Gaga’s label and Associated Newspapers to secure this exclusive? We can see what Metro thinks they'll get out of it (though how many of you plan to return to their website once you've had your musical fill?) But what's in it for the artist? The paper this morning comes wrapped in a big inky advert to buy the CD from HMV, when it’s released on May 23. But why would you, now you can hear it for free? Well here’s the catch... you’re limited to three plays of the album only (and no one is going to be clever enough to figure out how to cheat that, are they?) In Scandinavia and Spain, you can listen to the album on Spotify from today. Isn’t the danger that, having heard it, there’ll be far less impetus to buy it next week? People might not actually - whisper it - like it? The curiosity that might’ve led to impulse purchasing has been sated. Won’t that impact on first day sales? Or has enough money changed hands in Gaga and Universal’s direction, due to these deals, that sales are a lesser concern? Last week she played a private gig for a drinks company, and a song from the album was released as part of a deal with timewasting Facebook app Farmville. Is she doing it for “the little monsters” or the big moolah?

Gaga’s record sales in the UK are by no means guaranteed. The singles released so far haven’t really done that well for someone we’re told is the biggest popstar in the world. We’d dare to suggest this is because the tracks Born This Way, Judas and especially Edge of Glory just haven’t been very good, though of course you may all just be waiting for the album before you part with any cash. But compare Gaga’s recent chart achievements to Adele, an artist who launched without hype or fanfare - just a few televised live performances of a couple of songs that lots of people really liked. The result was that her individual tracks took up residency in the top five and she went on to break the UK album chart record for a solo artist at number one, and 21 is currently the biggest selling digital album of all time. And she went to number one in the US too. Doesn’t that mean Adele is actually the biggest popstar in the world?* Or does it only count if you make a big fuss about it, and climb out of a coffin wearing a bin bag?

We don’t have any answers, and the Gaga hype machine has plenty of steam left in it, despite our tiring of the noise it makes. And maybe some of the other songs on Born This Way will be as good as Paparazzi. We can but hope this all turns out to be worth it. But there’s a lot to be said for simply making a good album and then just, you know, releasing it. However old fashioned that might seem.

*Actually we think it’s probably still Shakira, but no one mentions that because those countries don’t count it seems.