On September 10, not only did Apple present the iPhones 6
and 6 Plus, they offered in their minds what probably seemed like a slam dunk.
They gave every Apple iTunes subscriber the new U2 Songs of Innocence CD for
free. Not only was it free, Apple automatically downloaded it to every iTunes
account, whether subscribers wanted it or not.
That’s 500 million copies of the CD sent out for a mere $100
million by Apple. With a push of a button (or signing of a check), U2’s Songs
of Innocence obliterated the current #1 selling album of all time, Michael
Jackson’s Thriller, by 435 million copies. They were free to subscribers, so do
they count? Simply put, they were bought and paid for by Apple. That counts in
my book. What about the copies that are deleted? Doesn’t matter…they’re bought.
What we do with it after we get it doesn’t get Apple a refund.
Congrats, on this “accomplishment”, U2. Enjoy it, because at
the same time, you and Apple pissed off millions of people and you may have
alienated yourselves from many musicians. Time Magazine’s came out with an
article (read it here) about Apple and
U2 working together on a new digital format that is focused on making sure
bands get compensated for their art. However, with this stunt, many feel they
have devalued music for all bands. It looks like they mean they should be
compensated hugely for their music while they (further) ruin the industry for
everyone else.
Sharon Osbourne, never one to be shy, went on a Twitter
tirade criticizing their music and political agendas. You can read her actual
Tweets here.
Keith Nelson, guitarist for Buckcherry, also criticized the band (read here) for devaluing
music by giving it away for free. By not selling an album that has good potential to make actual sales makes things harder for newer bands. Obviously, retailers weren't happy about
it as it will cost them sales.
For Apple, they didn’t get out unscathed. According to this
Vocativ article,
the cost came out to $50 per album. And that's with many not wanting it. Apple
also had already come under fire for privacy practices and giving the CD to
customers without their consent does nothing to help solve that. They also had
to send out directions of how to remove the download to customers.
Overall, I don’t think either U2 or Apple needed the
additional publicity from this stunt…even if it hadn’t had such a huge
backlash. The iPhone 6 is going to sell either way. U2 fans would buy the new
CD…granted, they wouldn’t have made $100 million in sales. They also saw a spike in sales of the back catalog. But
their reputation is taking a hit. There's definitely a trade off and you can decide if you think it was worth it.
I'm not a fan of U2, so that could be clouding my
judgment. While there are a ton of U2 fans, I'm curious what the reaction would have been if
they worked with Paul McCartney. I can't think of anyone that would be more
popular than him. I'm sure there would still be detractors, but I wonder if he
would have taken as much heat.
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