# Bono Admits U2’s Notorious iTunes Album Giveaway “Went Too Far”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/bono-admits-u2s-notorious-itunes-album-giveaway-went-too-far/
- Published: 2026-10-27T14:41:56+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-27T15:53:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Consequence
- Original article: https://consequence.net/2026/10/bono-admits-u2s-notorious-itunes-album-giveaway-went-too-far/
- Topics: Americas, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- Bono says U2’s iTunes giveaway went too far.
- More than 500 million users received the album automatically.
- The band hoped to test a new way to fund music distribution.

## Summary

Bono has acknowledged that U2’s 2014 release of *Songs of Innocence* to iTunes users “went too far”, taking responsibility for a promotion that put the album in people’s libraries without their consent. The episode matters as a high-profile example of how a music giveaway can provoke backlash when listeners have no choice about receiving it.

In an interview with The New York Times, Bono said Apple chief executive Tim Cook and U2 manager Paul McGuinness had questioned the plan, asking why the band would give away music after years of asking people to pay for it. Bono said U2 wanted to test whether Apple or another company would pay for music and distribute it, partly in response to musicians’ low earnings. More than 500 million iTunes customers received the album, and Apple later created a tool to remove it; guitarist The Edge said taking risks was part of the band’s work.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.