Apple and U2: More Like Apple and Not Again

Upon hearing that U2 and Apple have collaborated again, I thought back to a paper that I wrote last year for an English course that I took. I wasn't a huge fan of the course content, but I really enjoyed my professor and she gave me a lot of confidence in my writing abilities. Ever since I wrote this paper, I've been proud of it. It got me a really good mark (93% thank you very much) and my professor loved it. She said I had a good use of subtlety and could get a point across clearly. So I'm going to share it with you (I suppose now would be a good time to mention that the paper I wrote is about when Apple gave everyone with iTunes U2's album Songs of Innocence).

Just Because It’s Free Doesn’t Mean I Want It

  On September 9th, 2014, Apple gave all of its iTunes Store users the U2 album Songs of Innocence for free. Or perhaps “forced upon” would be a better term. Apple’s distribution of Songs of Innocence to all of its iTunes Store users was a mistake. It assumes everybody wants to listen to U2, the album occupies memory space on people’s computers and all users could do was sit and watch as it all went down.

  Of all brands we use, Apple is the one with the data to determine what music each of us is interested in. Despite this, it decided to release to all of its users an album from “a pop-rock band popular among older white males” (Assar). After the pathetic sales of the special edition U2-branded iPod in 2004, you would think Apple would have learned not everyone is a U2 fan. 

If users had automatic downloads turned on, the album was on all of their devices when it was first released. Those who use Apple’s Time Machine automated back up or an equivalent application now have to go through their back up and remove the album to prevent it from occupying valuable memory space. Leaving it there could, in the future, prevent something more worth-while of saving being lost. 

Not only did 500 million people have files show up on their computer without their permission, there was also no way to remove Songs of Innocence from your devices. It may seem like “…Apple gave us all a gift…” (Assar) but part of gift giving implies that one has to accept it; Apple users were given no choice but to receive the album. A week after its release, Apple provided users with instructions on how to remove the album from their devices. This was “an admission by Apple that this was a bad idea” (Assar).

You can’t help but think of how this gift was good for anyone. Sure, U2 was, and still is promoted by Apple for the duration of the exclusive release. But this blunder on both Apple and U2’s part cast the whole situation in a negative light. Apple is not making any money because people are getting the album for free. People are deleting their copy of Songs of Innocence while wondering what else Apple is downloading onto their devices. U2 may now have the “largest album release ever”, but Songs of Innocence will go down in history as the gift that nobody wanted. 

Works Cited

Assar, Vijith. "Apple's Devious U2 Album Giveaway Is Even Worse Than Spam | WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 26 Sept. 2014. <http://www.wired.com/2014/09/apples-devious-u2-album-giveaway-even-worse-spam/>.