U2's surprise new album available on iTunes for free

[Scott Bails]

There might be something to that if it were simply their decision. It probably required sign-off by two or three organizations though. These days there are probably tons of artists that would love to do the very same thing if Apple would support them in doing so. How come we don't see more of this type of thing? Certainly Bono can't be the only musician alive with a huge ego...

Kanye West, anyone?


Oh, wait, you said "musician."

Sorry.

[rcarlberg]

Turns out there's a special website for deleting the U2 album (if you haven't already downloaded it from the cloud):
https://itunes.com/soi-delete

[Plasmatopia]

See post #9.

[Plasmatopia]

Didn't Windows Media Player come with a David Byrne tune at one time? How much ruckus did that raise?

Edit: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/...idbyrnepr.aspx

[JKL2000]

In an amusing twist, Apple has now pushed Body Count's "Cop Killer" to 500 million iPhones.

[NeonKnight]

Get the popcorn out!

Sharon Osbourne opened her big trap again....

"U2 you are business moguls not musicians anymore," she tweeted. "No wonder you have to give your mediocre music away for free cause no one wants to buy it."
The problem, she said, is that U2 was helping to "set a precedent that music is disposable, it's just another piece of software and it's nothing, you should give it away for free."
"There's a whole new breed of artist coming up that need that money to survive to be able to continue to create," she said. "We're not all billionaires, we're not all in your world. So stop with you're 'doing us a favor by giving it away for free.' Keep it to yourselves!"

Perhaps she has a point, but that is some enormous glass house she lives in...

[davis]

^ hopefully Bono et al will ignore her.

[davis]

^ hopefully Bono et al will ignore her. Observe but don't engage.

[nosebone]

The reason for this freebie is a hopeful sales spike for the U2 catalog.

[JJ88]

Perhaps she has a point, but that is some enormous glass house she lives in...

Well, of course. But I do hate it when people call out AOR bands or whoever as 'corporate rock' and yet you have a critics' darling like U2 who define the term IMHO.

I think she does have a point about them being able to afford to give it away as well- will the business expect this from younger musicians? Like, 'U2 can do it, why can't you, nobody's heard of you' etc.

[rcarlberg]

It's marketing genius. Price the product at what it's worth. Who can argue with that?

[rcarlberg]

it's just another piece of software and it's nothing, you should give it away for free.

Hey waittaminute! Since when is SOFTWARE worth nothing and "given away for free"? Sharon, programmers gotta eat too!

[Scott Bails]

I think she does have a point about them being able to afford to give it away as well- will the business expect this from younger musicians? Like, 'U2 can do it, why can't you, nobody's heard of you' etc.

I would think that any younger musician would love to have Apple pay them $30M to give away their album to everyone who uses iTunes.

[JJ88]

^I mean without that part, of course!

[Scott Bails]

Well, that's a pretty important part, don'tcha think?

[JKL2000]

U2 didn't give it away for free, Apple did. U2 was paid for it.

I'm proud to say I've never seen or heard Sharon Osborne or her kids aside from a couple of photos I couldn't avoid, but she sounds like a moron. Why is this even being reported? Is she a total train wreck or something?

[JKL2000]

Yes!!

[Gruno]

I would think that any younger musician would love to have Apple pay them $30M to give away their album to everyone who uses iTunes.

^I mean without that part, of course!

Well, that's a pretty important part, don'tcha think?

Exactly. Can't pick and choose what part of the equation to better an argument. Use the entire shebang or don't.

If a new band were offered millions to give their album away as a promotion for them and the company, wouldn't you say it's a win-win all across the boards? This faux backlash against U2/Apple for this is exactly that. So what if a small percentage of disgruntled iTunes users are upset that they got something for free. U2 and Apple are probably laughing all the way to the bank!

As Rolling Stone article said:

An unprecedented number of U2's previous albums have now entered iTunes' album chart since the new record's launch. Earlier this week, 24 of the band's titles had reached the top 200, and the U218 singles album struck the top 10 in 46 countries. The Joshua Tree from 1987, 1991's Achtung Baby, 1983's War and two versions of the singles collection are currently in the U.S. top 50, with 1988's Rattle and Hum and 1984's The Unforgettable Fire following close behind.

Apple and U2 both got the media attention (and is still getting it) and they each are making money because of it.

Others can say boo-boo all they want. They are falling on deaf ears, in the end.

[JJ88]

Well, that's a pretty important part, don'tcha think?

What I mean is, in the future will this be the expected way of bands having their music released- the promise of big 'exposure', but of course without anything like millions on offer at the outset.

It's not about 'bettering' anybody's argument....I wasn't aware it was an 'argument' at all until the above post!

[Scott Bails]

What I mean is, in the future will this be the expected way of bands having their music released- the promise of big 'exposure', but of course without anything like millions on offer at the outset.

It's not about 'bettering' anybody's argument....I wasn't aware it was an 'argument' at all until the above post!

But that's the thing - the lump-sum payment is the key to the whole deal. The artist would have to weigh and negotiate the amount of that payment to their liking. Otherwise, why would they agree to it? No one is forcing anyone into a deal like that.

It's really not that different from a regular, traditional record deal, except that instead of a royalty, the band got their payment up-front.

[JJ88]

^Right, I'm with you.

[Plasmatopia]

I guess I need to read these articles - I didn't realize U2 got such a big payout. Smart move on their part.

[ThomasKDye]

Others can say boo-boo all they want. They are falling on deaf ears, in the end.

If I said "well, it was successful so they win" as often as I heard it, I would have the worst crap in my collection.

[PeterG]

Nothing to do with "U2 hate"

err...yes it is...if you read the comments on social media. Lots of people clearly don't want other people to see a U2 album in their music files.

[Vic2012]

I've never liked U2. Never understood why they were so huge back in the 80s (or whenever their peak decade was). The radio hits I've heard thoughout the last few decades aren't bad songs but they're nothing special to me at all. I kind of thought of reinstalling itunes (so I could get the freebee) on my computer (I still have Win XP. Hey, it still works. Snigger all you want) but then I though about how much I dislike itunes. When I had itunes on this ol' 'pewter it seemed that every single time I launched the damn thing there was always some damned "update" that it had to do.