songsofinnocence
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Bono apologizes for that U2 download you didn't ask for
Apple and U2 may have touted that Songs of Innocence iTunes giveaway as a breakthrough music deal, but not everyone appreciated seeing an album forced into their collection. And apparently, front man Bono is now well aware of this -- he just used a fan Q&A on Facebook to offer an apology of sorts. He's sorry that U2 got "carried away" with its idea, and claims that the band was worried that years of work "might'nt be heard" if it had a typical launch.
U2's Songs of Innocence was downloaded by 26 million people
Apple is finally releasing numbers about the notorious U2 album that supposedly no one wanted. In a report to Billboard Apple claims over 26 million people downloaded the complete Songs of Innocence album out of the 500 million people for whom the record was available to via iTunes. Of course that's not the end of the numbers. In total 81 million people "experienced" songs from the record via iTunes, iTunes Radio, and Beats music service. In a statement to Billboard Eddy Cue, Apple's senior VP of internet software and services, addressed how important these numbers are for U2. "To help put this into perspective," he says, "prior to this, 14 million customers had purchased music from U2 since the opening of the iTunes Store in 2003." The deal worked out handsomely for the band, receiving $100 million in free advertising for their album, but the 26 million number is stunning. To put it perspective the band's legendary Joshua Tree album has sold 25 million copies since its release in 1987.
How to get the new U2 album 'Songs of Innocence' out of your iTunes
Apple capped its iPhone 6 & Apple Watch launch event last week by announcing it would give away copies of a brand-new U2 album to all iTunes users -- but some people aren't happy about it. In apparently shocking news to the folks from Cupertino, not every single person in the world is a fan of the Irish rock band. Many were upset when the album suddenly appeared in their iTunes library, and, depending on a user's settings, sometimes downloaded itself onto mobile devices. There is a way to hide albums from view in iTunes, but if you just can't live with Songs of Innocence being tied to your account, Apple has pushed out a tool to eradicate it from your account forever. Go to this webpage, click remove album, enter your account info and poof -- it's gone, although you may still need to delete any downloaded copies. We hope next time Apple will ask before shoving a new LP into our libraries -- unless it's Detox.
Apple is giving away U2's new album 'Songs of Innocence' on iTunes
To close out today's event, Apple CEO Tim Cook and U2 announced that the band's newest album is launching right now on iTunes. It's available free, and will be there exclusively until October 13th to all account holders. If you don't have an account, just create one within the next five weeks and you can download all 11 tracks from Songs of Innocence free of charge. The servers are (predictably) a bit slammed, but it should be available right in the albums section of iTunes on PCs or your Apple device to download it. It will also be available on iTunes Radio and Beats Music for streaming, starting tomorrow. U2 closed out the show by performing the album's lead single "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)." Rolling Stone has some details from band members about the collaborations (Danger Mouse, Flood and some of Adele's producers) and influences for the album, but check back here to get our first impressions of both new iPhone 6 models, and the Apple Watch.
