Release of U2’s latest album point of contention towards band and Apple
U2 recently riled up the world, yet again, by the release of their thirteenth studio album Songs of Innocence. Most of us woke up to find the digital album hogging valuable memory space in our respective iClouds. Expectedly, it didn’t take long for the outraged to take to their Twitter accounts to blow off some steam.
“In other news, your ringtone has been changed to ‘Beautiful Day’ and Bono is now your friend on Facebook,” tweeted one Tom Bromley, just one sardonically displeased voice among the many that surfaced that day.
But how could free music piss so many people off? One would think that we would be impressed by this bold move, seeing it as a middle finger to the money-sucking, death knell for creativity that is the mainstream music industry.
However, it wasn’t the gift of free music that caused a stir. It was the fact that Apple took it upon itself to enter our personal spaces and place something there that we didn’t ask for, all without our permission. The outrage rests in the notion that iTunes users saw through this so-called “gift” as a marketing technique for a band that, up until now, has been basically M.I.A., and wanted to gain quick and easy exposure. It is in the notion that a full album was taking up our valuable iCloud space, and at the time there was no way to delete it (until Apple released removal instructions a few days later). Finally, it was in the notion that a lot of people don’t even like U2. There are U2 fans, and then there are U2 haters, and the U2 haters generally, for whatever reason, tend to have a bone to pick with Bono. To them, Bono might as well have personally spit in their faces.
Has this event initiated a new means of marketing? Could we wake up to find a new movie recorded to our PVRs? Or new apps downloaded to our iPhones? All of which we didn’t ask for? It’s not the free product that one should worry about – it’s the invasiveness of this marketing technique. It’s the blurred line between what belongs to someone, and what belongs to Apple.
However, we can’t deny that this was an extremely clever marketing strategy. Songs of Innocence has tallied about 33 million views, and with the album being right there, most people gave it a listen. More people than usual are talking smack about U2, but any publicity is good publicity. So, in a sense, it did work entirely in theirs (and Apple’s) favour. But, for next time, perhaps Apple should add an “opt-out” option of automatic additions to the iCloud or iTunes.
In regards to the actual album, Songs of Innocence, was it really worth the latest drama surrounding its release? As U of G alumni Daniel Dellavedova humbly and succinctly said, “I can live with or without it.”