U2 has taken a beating from Iggy Pop, Tyler, The Creator and countless iTunes account holders, for pushing their latest album onto hundreds of millions of music fans around the world. And they’re sorry for it. But it won’t stop them from promoting the record.
In support of the album’s conventional release, U2 has shared a video for the opening single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).”
The clip accompanies the physical deluxe edition of Songs of Innocence, which hit all other retailers Oct. 14, featuring 10 additional bonus tracks (unavailable on iTunes) including six acoustic versions of Innocence songs and four all-new cuts.
See the clip below.
Earlier, Bono came out and apologized for the way Songs Of Innocence was dropped — unsolicited — into the library of every iTunes account holder.
The frontman’s act of contrition came during a Facebook Q&A session. During the online chat, a Facebook user wrote, “Can you please never release an album on iTunes that automatically downloads to peoples [sic] playlists ever again? It’s really rude.”
U2 Talks iTunes Album Release in Facebook Q&A: ‘Oops’
A crestfallen Bono responded: “Oops. 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 mightn’t be heard. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.”
The question pops up at 2.25 on the video. Watch below:
The other questions answered during the session (“Why doesn’t Larry and Adam have cool names like The Edge and Bono?” or “Larry, do you see yourself acting more in future?”) will be drowned out by Bono’s confession, which is the first time the band has responded to the negativity surrounding the free release. Songs of Innocence was made available Sept. 9 to 500 million people around the world as a free download on iTunes, marking it arguably the biggest launch in music history.
U2’s ‘Songs’ Arrives, But Giveaway Model Will Push Back Its Billboard 200 Debut
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Internet software and services, subsequently said more than 81 million Apple customers experienced songs from the album, Billboard reported.
Earlier this week, Iggy Pop took aim at U2’s digital freebie. “The people who don’t want the free U2 download are trying to say, ‘Don’t try to force me,’” the punk rock legend said during his John Peel Lecture in Salford, which was broadcast on BBC 6 Music. Odd Future rapper Tyler, the Creator wasn’t impressed to find the new album on his phone. A string of tweets ensued, including this choice comment, “GET OFF MY F—ING PHONE. YOU COULDNT COME UP WITH AN ACTUAL MARKETING IDEA? F— @U2 I DONT WANT YOU. F— BONO. I DIDNT ASK FOR YOU IM MAD.”