ONE missing hard disk, a set of 'artistic' photos, a bunch of lost songs. And three worried artistes.

Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.

Mr William Soh, an artiste manager with M5 Royal Music, which was formed in 2003, was at a rehearsal with his artistes on Sunday when he left his belongings unattended.

Later that night, he realised his portable hard disk was missing from his bag.

On it? Everything from new songs to unpublished lyrics - and a set of 'artistic' photos of Wu Luoyi, an artiste with the company.

Asked if the photos were nude, as reported in Lianhe Wanbao, Mr Soh refused to elaborate, and simply said they were 'artistic'.

The artiste manager made a police report the same day.

Why carry so much important material everywhere?

'I use the hard disk at client meetings to play demo songs and promote my artistes,' explained Mr Soh.

He estimated that the material on the disk could have cost up to $300,000 to produce.

Asked if this was a publicity stunt, Mr Soh flatly denied it.

'The hard work of my artistes has been lost. Why would I make them miserable?

'I don't want another Edison Chen incident,' he said, referring to the Hong Kong-based actor who had his raunchy pictures leaked through the Internet earlier this year.

Mr Soh believes that there's a chance the missing hard disk might have been taken by somebody known to him.

'Only people who meet me regularly know I carry the disk around,' he said.

But he's reluctant to point fingers.

'It could also be a fan or a supporter who took it,' he said.

The New Paper spoke to two of the artistes whose songs were on the hard disk.

Hazel Lim lost around 15 new songs, while Elson Soh lost more than 30. Both sounded upset with the loss.

Said Elson: 'We've been working on these songs for more than three months. Now, because the master copies are out there, we may have to throw them away.'

He explained that the record companies are particular about new music being leaked to the public.

'If the master copies are freely available, they may not buy our songs. The radio stations will also be reluctant to play them now,' he lamented.

Said Hazel: 'I'm sad about it and very confused. If these songs end up on the Internet, I will lose a lot of work.'

The New Paper was unable to reach Luoyi for comment.

Mr Soh is still hopeful that the disk will be returned. He promised that no further action will be taken against the person.

He said: 'The careers of these new artistes are on the line. If you have the disk, please give it back.'