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U2's Bono Apologizes for Automatic 'Songs of Innocence' Album Download

Tuesday October 14, 2014 3:35 pm PDT by Juli Clover
In a Facebook interview where U2 band members answered questions asked by their fans, U2 frontman Bono apologized to iTunes users that were upset after the band's new album "Songs of Innocence" was automatically downloaded on their devices without their consent.

In the apology, Bono says that the group "got carried away" with themselves and were worried that songs they had spent two years working on "might not be heard."

bonoapology
Oops. 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.
U2's newest album, "Songs of Innocence," was provided for free to 500 million iTunes users as part of Apple's September 9 iPhone event. As part of the promotion, Apple pushed the album to iTunes accounts, causing some devices to download the album without user permission.

The automatic downloads caused quite a bit of backlash, prompting Apple to create a tool to allow users to remove the free U2 album from their devices.

Despite the negativity over the auto downloads, U2's partnership with Apple appears to have been wildly successful, with "Songs of Innocence" seeing 26 million downloads from iTunes users. Additionally, more than 81 million users are said to have "experienced" the album, via iTunes, iTunes Radio, and Beats Music.

Apple's deal with U2 and Universal Music Group is worth an estimated $100 million and is said to be part of a "long-term relationship" that will see Apple and U2 continuing to partner up to promote innovation in music.

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sualpine
59 months ago
Congratulations, America. You've forced an apology from someone who gave you something for FREE.
Rating: 154 Votes
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Xenc
59 months ago
Classy response given the situation.
Rating: 69 Votes
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Torrijos
59 months ago
Well mine didn't download directly and I had to cheat a bit for the download to start...

Some great songs in the album, and I give my thanks to U2 (and Apple? somebody had to pay I guess ^^)
Rating: 55 Votes
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Goftrey
59 months ago
See? I don't understand why millions of people hate the guy?

It's not even remotely his fault that Apple decided to ram the album down people's throats through auto-downloading, yet he apologises anyway. If anything it should be coming from Apple themselves, not Bono.
Rating: 49 Votes
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The Doctor11
59 months ago
I don't think its really U2's fault. Apple should have said "Your out of your damn mind." And made it a free download through iTunes. Not an automatic download.
Rating: 46 Votes
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gugy
59 months ago
People just are making too much ado about nothing.
U2 and Apple, I don't think ever intended anything but give away free songs for iTunes account holders enjoyment. Sure U2 made money on the deal and Apple and the band got a lot of publicity but people acting like this was an outrage is just stupidity IMO.
I am happy, got a free album that by the way is very good.
Rating: 39 Votes
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Goftrey
59 months ago

They should apologize how terrible their music is.


Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of people who sell out the biggest venues across the world in order to see them live.
Rating: 35 Votes
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seamer
59 months ago
Should have had it as a click-to-redeem since it was time-based anyway.
Rating: 29 Votes
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TsMkLg068426
59 months ago
They should apologize how terrible their music is.
Rating: 29 Votes
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Sean0227
59 months ago
I'm not a U2 fan, although I don't find them offensive in anyway and their songs do remind me of college. That being said, the Songs Of Innocence download was a gift from Apple to their customers. There were no strings attached, nothing else to buy, and if you didn't like it/want it, you could just delete it from your device. I was disappointed by the backlash Apple received from this. All I can say is I hope the people that raised a stink about this "gift" don't treat their friends, colleagues and family the same way when they receive a gift they don't like and/or want.
Rating: 26 Votes

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