Bono apologises for putting U2's new album in everyone's iCloud library

RobYourBuilder

A month after Apple and U2 gave away the band's new album, Songs of Innocence, for free to everyone with an iTunes account, Bono acknowledged he and his bandmates may have gone too far. Responding to people who complained about finding an unwanted album in their iCloud purchase history, the singer apologized today as part of a video interview hosted on Facebook.

In the video, which features band members asking questions from fans submitted through Facebook, Bono is asked: "Can you please never release an album on iTunes that automatically downloads to people's playlists ever again? It's really rude." Bono appears uncharacteristically sad while he tries to explain the band's thinking. "Oops ... I'm sorry about that," he says. "I had this beautiful idea. Might have gotten carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that thing. A drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity, a 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."

More than 26 million people have downloaded the album, according to Apple, and 81 million have listened to at least part of it as part of the promotion. For those less charmed by Bono's megalomania, Apple released a handy tool to purge Songs of Innocence from our iCloud libraries. But this won't be the last we hear of Apple and U2 — in a note posted to the band's website, U2 members say they and Apple will be working on "some cool stuff over the next couple of years," including "innovations that will transform the way music is listened to and viewed." And, perhaps, the way music is apologized for.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/14/6979103/bono-apologizes-for-putting-u2s-new-album-in-everyones-icloud-library

Is it really U2's fault that iTunes messed up the process of giving away the free album? I think the real problem with the giveaway of the unsolicited album, was that it reminded people that they're not in complete control of their iCloud libraries, so soon after the mass hacking of celebreties personal photographs via iCloud. Anyway....

Soups123

And rightly so what a cocky twat

Tony EH

Let me get this straight.

U2 make a record. They give away free to i zombies and people moan about it?

Is that correct?

Nodin

Unless he and the rest of them commit seppuku I will remain unconvinced.

dan1895

Tony EH wrote: »

Let me get this straight.

U2 make a record. They give away free to i zombies and people moan about it?

Is that correct?

Yep but if your i-tunes consisted of only classical music (for example) and you liked to listen to your whole collection on shuffle while relaxing, then why should anyone put something you don't like into that collection.
The song should have been made available to download for free, not just put on their i-tunes.
Also Bono's apology didn't seem the most sincere.

danrua01

I was under the impression that it only downloaded if you applied to download it (?).

Even if it's not the case and you have it in your library- ignore it.

endacl

Cheek of the fecker! All those ones and zeros clogging up my 1TB hard drive.

I don't want anything for free. Ever. That's not how the world works. I want to pay for stuff. Every time. I don't go to the trouble if earning money to not have anything to spend it on!

:mad:

Am I doing this right?

endacl

dan1895 wrote: »

Yep but if your i-tunes consisted of only classical music (for example) and you liked to listen to your whole collection on shuffle while relaxing, then why should anyone put something you don't like into that collection.
The song should have been made available to download for free, not just put on their i-tunes.
Also Bono's apology didn't seem the most sincere.

Of course it didn't seem the most sincere. Why would it? It's a bull5hit complaint.

porsche959

Tony EH wrote: »

Let me get this straight.

U2 make a record. They give away free to i zombies and people moan about it?

Is that correct?

Apparently. Talk about first world problems.

KomradeBishop

Anything hard to understand about:
1: Giving out an album free - fine,
2: Forcing an album onto peoples devices - not fine?

Tony EH

dan1895 wrote: »

Yep but if your i-tunes consisted of only classical music (for example) and you liked to listen to your whole collection on shuffle while relaxing, then why should anyone put something you don't like into that collection.
The song should have been made available to download for free, not just put on their i-tunes.
Also Bono's apology didn't seem the most sincere.

Can you not just delete it?

Sorry, I don't use iTunes, so I'm in the dark over why this is such a big deal.

endacl

KomradeBishop wrote: »

Anything hard to understand about:
1: Giving out an album free - fine,
2: Forcing an album onto peoples devices - not fine?

But it wasn't forced. It was just made conveniently available. It wasn't 'on' the device until it was downloaded from the cloud.

dan1895

Tony EH wrote: »

Can you not just delete it?

Sorry, I don't use iTunes, so I'm in the dark over why this is such a big deal.

You can now but that wasn't an option when it first happened.

One eyed Jack

If I receive unwanted mass market email in my inbox, I call it spam. If I receive unwanted mass market 'music' in my itunes library, I don't care what Bono thinks his music is worth or what his motivation is - to me, it's still spam.

If I flood his inbox with advertisements for penis enlargement pills, should I expect him to thank me for that too? He's already one of the biggest dicks on the planet as it is, so he doesn't need them, but "I was trying to be nice".

Irish Guitarist

Last year I got a free belt with a pair of Levis jeans. I already had a belt and didn't need another one. I'm still outraged.

PizzamanIRL

They got their $100 million. They're happy

danrua01

I'm writing a letter to the government about those buskers handing me free CDs. It's an outrage.

dan1895

danrua01 wrote: »

I'm writing a letter to the government about those buskers handing me free CDs. It's an outrage.

At least you can refuse a free cd handed to you

Tony EH

dan1895 wrote: »

You can now but that wasn't an option when it first happened.

Was that U2's fault or Apple's? Either way that sounds silly that you can't delete something. But, Steam does this crap as well.

So, if I'm correct, iTunes is used as cloud content storage and people have to physically download the items to their local storage device (iPod etc)? So, how could U2's unwanted album get onto someone's iPod without them hitting the button?

Sorry, if these seem like stupid questions. I'm just a bit flabbergasted by the whole thing.

dan1895

Tony EH wrote: »

Was that U2's fault or Apple's? Either way that sounds silly that you can't delete something. But, Steam does this crap as well.

So, if I'm correct, iTunes is used as cloud content storage and people have to physically download the items to their local storage device (iPod etc)? So, how could U2's unwanted album get onto someone's iPod without them hitting the button?

Sorry, if these seem like stupid questions. I'm just a bit flabbergasted by the whole thing.

I don't think it did but it went onto their i-tunes (and mine) on their PC/laptop etc.

Tony EH

Um, so it was an automatic download to your mac/PC?

danrua01

First world problems gone crazy

porsche959

U2 drummer Larry Mullen jr caused shockwaves to reverberate around Dublin today, with the first acknowledgement from inside the official band camp that there may be truth to rumours of U2 'stigmata'.

Nobody can say for sure where the rumoured incidents first appeared, but Principle insiders say that the bleeding wounds may be the first physical 'manifestation' of the band's new spiritual sway among music fans.

Mullen, previously a sceptic around matters of religious stigmata, abruptly changed his tune this week, and is now insisting that Irish church authorities should 'closely examine' the claims.

"Is Bono a prophet? I leave for you to judge, when I tell you that Songs of Innocence has already reached more willing ears than the early gospels had in a comparable period of time after the event."

"As for the critics, if you ask me they are like the Pharisees of old that crucified Our Lord. Am I saying that Bono is a messianic figure? Again, I will leave for others to judge".

-Reuters, AP