Culture news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Bono admits U2’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ iTunes album giveaway “went too far”
Bono has reiterated that U2’s 2014 decision to put “Songs of Innocence” into iTunes users’ music libraries without warning “went too far”. The giveaway, arranged with Apple, was intended to get a company to pay for the band’s music and distribute it, but many users objected to having the album added without choosing it.
Bono said he took sole responsibility for the approach, despite manager Paul McGuinness and Apple chief executive Tim Cook questioning it. The album was placed in the accounts of more than 500 million iTunes customers, and Apple later provided a removal tool after the backlash. Guitarist The Edge said taking risks and learning from mistakes was part of the process; U2 are due to release “Carnaval de Luz” on 13 November, their first album of new material since 2017.
In short
- Bono says U2’s iTunes giveaway went too far.
- The album appeared in more than 500 million accounts.
- Apple later introduced a tool to remove it.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The giveaway was intended to make U2’s music widely available and test a new way for a company to pay for distribution, potentially reaching hundreds of millions of listeners. From this perspective, taking a bold promotional risk was consistent with U2’s willingness to experiment, and the backlash offered a lesson about how such campaigns should be handled.
The case against
Adding an album to users’ libraries without their consent crossed a boundary between promotion and control of personal accounts, even if the music was free. The scale of the giveaway made that intrusion affect hundreds of millions of people, and offering a removal tool afterwards did not give them a choice beforehand.
Explained simply
U2 are an Irish rock band whose members include singer Bono and guitarist The Edge. In 2014, they worked with Apple to put their album “Songs of Innocence” into the music libraries of iTunes customers.
iTunes was Apple’s music service, where people could buy and manage digital music. The album appeared in more than 500 million accounts without users opting in, prompting complaints from people who did not want it; Apple later offered a tool to remove it.
The episode raised questions about how companies should distribute music and whether customers should be able to choose what is added to their accounts. It also involved U2’s manager, Paul McGuinness, and Apple’s chief executive at the time, Tim Cook.
Art Business Companies Culture Entertainment Music