Maybe, it is a marketing strategy. Artists give speculation on when their next album may be released, they then have future options to either announce/confirm their previous statement, or to reject and denounce it. The more they (the artist) does this, gives them more publicity over a longer period of time, and in turn it builds up anticipation for the anticipated work.
It is a market strategy aimed at increasing awareness, ultimately founded on the flaws through losses of piracy and copy.