You may remember that in 2014, U2’s newly released album was suddenly added to the libraries of all iTunes users unannounced. But that turned out to be a fiasco when it became clear that many people didn’t want to see this album even near their music library. The situation became such that Apple had to release a special tool to have this album removed from the libraries.
And now, U2 frontman Bono explained in an article he wrote for The Guardian, “It was all my fault.”
According to the article, when Bono, along with Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller, approached Tim Cook about the idea, he was met with some skepticism. As Bono tells Cook, “You mean free music?” said. “But the whole point is… to make the musicians make money,” he added.
Bono relates what happened next: “‘No,’ I said, ‘I don’t think we’re going to give it for free. I think you’re going to pay us for it and then give it to people as a gift. Wouldn’t that be great?’ Tim Cook raised an eyebrow. ‘So we pay you for the album and then we distribute it?’ ‘Yes, it’s like Netflix buying the movie and distributing it to subscribers.’ I said. Tim looked at me as if I was explaining the alphabet to an English professor. He said, ‘But we’re not a subscription organization.’ Tim wasn’t convinced. ‘And is this just for people who like U2?’ “Well,” I said, “I think we should distribute it to everybody. It’s their choice whether they want to listen or not.”
The result was not as expected
It must have clearly been a lesson in humility for the band when they realized that many people not only didn’t want to listen to it, but didn’t even want the album in their library.
“As one social media joker put it, ‘I woke up this morning to find Bono in my kitchen drinking my coffee, putting on my dressing gown, reading my newspaper,’ Bono said. Or, less politely, ‘The free U2 album is expensive.’ Mea Culpa” (Mea Culpa: My fault; admitting her mistake) continues, “‘All responsibility is mine. [U2 manager] Not Guy, Not Edge, Not Adam, Not Larry, Not Tim Cook, Eddy Cue not.
Bono also reminded of a happier union with Apple on the iPod, which celebrated its 21st anniversary just yesterday. It was U2 who first convinced Steve Jobs to appear in those famous iPod silhouette ads and also to produce the U2 edition iPod in black with a red click wheel. Amusingly, he also said that they asked Jobs for a nominal amount of Apple shares, but Jobs immediately refused. “I’m sorry,” Steve said, adding: “‘This can’t be part of a deal,'” Bono said.
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