Photo: Wenn
Having given away 500 million copies of their new album Songs Of Innocence, U2 have announced that they've come up with a way of combatting piracy.
In their new Time cover story Bono claims it "will prove so irresistibly exciting to music fans that it will tempt them again into buying music — whole albums as well as individual tracks."
Bono went on to explain (via Billboard). "I think it’s going to get very exciting for the music business,", claiming that this as yet unnamed format will be "an audiovisual interactive format for music that can’t be pirated and will bring back album artwork in the most powerful way, where you can play with the lyrics and get behind the songs when you’re sitting on the subway with your iPad or on these big flat screens. You can see photography like you’ve never seen it before."
Time's story also reports that U2 are well aware of the backlash that has occured. “It’s like everyone’s vomiting whatever their first impression is" says Adam Clayton. This is something that was echoed when Bono appeared on Jo Whiley's Radio Show this (via NME). "That was kind of why you got into a band, to stir things up and annoy people. That's the whole punk rock thing... the only thing that could have gone wrong would have been being ignored."
Bono revealed that apparently 38 million people have listened to the album. He also had no time for Whiley's question about the negative feedback and users wanting to delete the album. "Oh for God's sakes... Really and truly - we get people who might want to delete it but nobody has deleted more U2 songs in the last five years than U2!"
The U2 album's shock release at the Apple announcement on 9 September caught many by surprise with some fans and fellow musicians reacting angrily. Salon have gone so far as to describe U2 as 'The Most Hated Band In America'.
Mercury Prize Nominees Bombay Bicycle Club told NME: “I thought the move was quite invasive. A lot of people are up in arms because they don’t like U2. I don’t have an opinion on the band itself, but I do think the method is a little bit in your face."
Tyler The Creator also tweeted the following:
GET OFF MY FUCKING PHONE. YOU COULDNT COME UP WITH AN ACTUAL MARKETING IDEA? FUCK @U2 I DONT WANT YOU. FUCK BONO. I DIDNT ASK FOR YOU IM MAD
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) September 12, 2014
U2's album will receive a physical release on 13 October with four bonus tracks.
Below: Who could be next to surprise-release a new album through iTunes?
