Automatic download of free U2 album onto Apple products creates controversy

During the reveal of the new iPhone 6 and Smart Watch, Apple announced it had negotiated with the band U2 to release their new album, “Songs of Innocence,” free of charge to all of Apple’s customers.

Apple paid U2 an undisclosed amount as part of a $100 million plus marketing campaign, for a five-week exclusive window during which time the album was available solely to Apple customers. Apple’s exclusivity period with U2 ended Oct. 13, at which time the album went on sale to music retailers.

Apple automatically placed the album into its customers’ iTunes library accounts and onto every iPhone, along with other Apple devices. This “free gift” created quite a bit of controversy around the world.

Some of Apple’s customers are enjoying the free download, however, others are frustrated and angry over this automatic download of U2’s latest album onto their Apple products without their permission.

“I think it is very weird,” said Kim Reyes, information technology major. “Why is a band I have never even heard of on my personal iTunes account? If they were able to add their album, why can’t we get other albums from artists that are our personal favorites added like that automatically too? I felt like it was an invasion of privacy and if they can do that, I wonder what else can they do.”

Those who were unhappy with the “forced” musical selection were further frustrated that there did not appear to be a way to remove the album from their iTunes library. In response to complaints, Apple posted instructions on its website allowing customers to remove “Songs of Innocence” from their iTunes library.

For additional help deleting the album, customers are advised to contact AppleCare. Once the album has been removed from a user’s account, it will no longer be available to download for free.

Not everyone viewed the free download as unwanted spam and are thankful to U2 and Apple for this gift.

“I love the band U2, and when I found out that I automatically received their new album for free I was elated,” said Shelby Terral, psychology major.

While marketing and public relations teams debate whether this was a bold, innovative move on Apple’s part or an expensive debacle, U2 frontman Bono at first defended the download telling Time magazine reporter Catherine Mayer, “The charts are broken;” Bono said the old music industry has come to a low point and has not caught up with the digital world. His desire is to see artists’ reach summed up by how much they are listened to, regardless of the medium or method. He has since apologized.

“Oops,” Bono said Oct. 15 on a video posted to U2’s Facebook page. “Um. I’m sorry about that. I had this beautiful idea and we got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing. Drop of megalomania, touch of generosity, dash of self-promotion and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years might not be heard. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.”

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Internet software and services, continues to defend Apple’s marketing strategy as ultimately a success despite its critics.

“The U2 album ‘Songs of Innocence’ has snagged 26 million downloads since it was released as a free download to Apple’s 500 million iTunes users,” Apple’s senior VP of Internet software and services, Eddy Cue, told Billboard Magazine. “Further, more than 81 million Apple users experienced the album. To help put this into perspective,” Cue told Billboard, “prior to this, 14 million customers had purchased music from U2 since the opening of the iTunes Store in 2003.”