3 ms·

I'm guessing that this decision had a lot to do with U2 looking at their legacy. With this push release, they can claim their album is on the most devices ever

I'm guessing that this decision had a lot to do with U2 looking at their legacy. With this push release, they can claim their album is on the most devices ever, most listened to album ever, etc, while still collecting a large pay check from Apple at the same time. If apple wrote the contract in such a way that each download is considered a sale, then U2 suddenly has the most successful album of all time in terms of "sales". I don't think there is anything wrong with this if its the case, but with their history of success and age, its understandable if they start looking at their career in terms of how they rank against bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. To clarify for some people, this in now way is to "blame" U2 for this. I'm just trying to see this from the U2 perspective.

billiam 12y ago
Following your logic, I want to congratulate Microsoft for the mandatory Windows XP Service Pack 2--the most popular software download ever!
- mjn 12y ago
  There's actually a lot of debate about that in games: best-selling games tend to be often at least in part boosted by bundling with consoles. For example, the two best-selling games of all time by some counts are Tetris and Wii Sports, but somewhere around 25% of Tetris's sales came from being bundled with the Gameboy, and >95% of Wii Sports sales were from bundling. (You can see some of that debate in the endless archives of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game...). Just discounting bundled sales doesn't seem quite right either, though. If you're measuring a game's ability to independently market itself, maybe, but if you're using it as a proxy for game popularity, # of players, cultural reach, etc., then bundled games like Super Mario Bros genuinely have a ton of players and historical importance.
jbigelow76 12y ago
Blaming U2, or shifting a sizable chunk of the blame to U2, seems like Apple apologist talk. It just doesn't sound like Bono and The Edge (does he capitalize the "The"?) to sit around and discuss the nuance of forced installs vs a free download. I doubt they would be so insecure in their place in pop history to "force" one group of specific technology users to download their album. My personal theory is that Tim Cook wanted to have something that was "his" in keeping the iPhone as part of the cultural zeitgeist and not just another really good smart phone. Steve had his pursuit of the Beatles , Tim has his "gift" of U2.
- leoc 12y ago
  > (does he capitalize the "The"?) Yes. Though now that U2's an Apple product maybe it's time to switch to rounded Edges. ;)
joezydeco 12y ago
According to Billboard magazine, U2's last tour took in a total revenue of USD $736,137,344 (about €569,000,000)[1]. U2 could have given the album away for free as a loss-leader for the tour. The fact that Apple paid USD $100,000,000 for the album and U2 gets all that free promotion for the next tour? They totally won on this. [1] http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/1176894/u2s-360-tour-gross-736137344 http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/1176894/u...
- smackfu 12y ago
  It was also a VERY expensive tour to put on. Nine days to setup and tear down each stop, with hundreds of workers and dozens of track trailer trucks. Setup video: http://vimeo.com/24796838 http://vimeo.com/24796838

billiam 12y ago

Following your logic, I want to congratulate Microsoft for the mandatory Windows XP Service Pack 2--the most popular software download ever!

mjn 12y ago
There's actually a lot of debate about that in games: best-selling games tend to be often at least in part boosted by bundling with consoles. For example, the two best-selling games of all time by some counts are Tetris and Wii Sports, but somewhere around 25% of Tetris's sales came from being bundled with the Gameboy, and >95% of Wii Sports sales were from bundling. (You can see some of that debate in the endless archives of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game...). Just discounting bundled sales doesn't seem quite right either, though. If you're measuring a game's ability to independently market itself, maybe, but if you're using it as a proxy for game popularity, # of players, cultural reach, etc., then bundled games like Super Mario Bros genuinely have a ton of players and historical importance.

jbigelow76 12y ago

Blaming U2, or shifting a sizable chunk of the blame to U2, seems like Apple apologist talk. It just doesn't sound like Bono and The Edge (does he capitalize the "The"?) to sit around and discuss the nuance of forced installs vs a free download. I doubt they would be so insecure in their place in pop history to "force" one group of specific technology users to download their album. My personal theory is that Tim Cook wanted to have something that was "his" in keeping the iPhone as part of the cultural zeitgeist and not just another really good smart phone. Steve had his pursuit of the Beatles , Tim has his "gift" of U2.

leoc 12y ago
> (does he capitalize the "The"?) Yes. Though now that U2's an Apple product maybe it's time to switch to rounded Edges. ;)

joezydeco 12y ago

According to Billboard magazine, U2's last tour took in a total revenue of USD $736,137,344 (about €569,000,000)[1]. U2 could have given the album away for free as a loss-leader for the tour. The fact that Apple paid USD $100,000,000 for the album and U2 gets all that free promotion for the next tour? They totally won on this. [1] http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/1176894/u2s-360-tour-gross-736137344 http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/1176894/u...

smackfu 12y ago
It was also a VERY expensive tour to put on. Nine days to setup and tear down each stop, with hundreds of workers and dozens of track trailer trucks. Setup video: http://vimeo.com/24796838 http://vimeo.com/24796838