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U2's 'Songs of Innocence' Accessed Over 33 Million Times Since Start of iTunes Promotion

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Apr 12, 2001
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Six days after it began offering U2's latest album "Songs of Innocence" for free to 500 million iTunes customers, Apple has announced (via the Associated Press) that over 33 million customers have accessed the record.

u2-apple.jpg
In a statement, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software and Services Eddy Cue called the numbers record-breaking, and said that the numbers include users who downloaded the album from their iTunes account, streamed it, or used iTunes Radio to listen to it.

Earlier this morning, Apple also released a tool for customers to delete the U2 album off of their iTunes accounts, as some users were upset with it being added to their devices without their knowledge.

Last Friday, it was reported that Songs of Innocence was downloaded 2 million times after three days of being made available. The album will be free for iTunes customers until October 13.

Article Link: U2's 'Songs of Innocence' Accessed Over 33 Million Times Since Start of iTunes Promotion
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/15/u2-songs-of-innocence-33-million-itunes/
dannys1

dannys1

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I want to know how many used the tool to banish it from their iTunes account forever like me...
 
bushido

bushido

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"Accessed" it as in the same way Siri gets used so much because half the time its people hitting the siri button on their keyboard by mistake in the middle of class? :p
 
marine0816

marine0816

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Put Tupac in everyone's itunes account, everybody aint starving for old rock stars from the 30s.
 
fitshaced

fitshaced

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People failing to see how successful this promotion was is laughable. That's U2 laughing all the way to the bank.

Also, fantastic album. California (There is no end to love) is a superb track.
 
bushido

bushido

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fitshaced said:
People failing to see how successful this promotion was is laughable. That's U2 laughing all the way to the bank.

Also, fantastic album. California (There is no end to love) is a superb track.
Click to expand...

for whom tho? U2 i can get but Apple? When i saw how much Apple paid U2 i was shocked as i thought U2 would be the one having to pay apple to use their platform as promotion
 
fitshaced

fitshaced

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bushido said:
for whom tho? U2 i can get but Apple? When i saw how much Apple paid U2 i was shocked as i thought U2 would be the one having to pay apple to use their platform as promotion
Click to expand...

For both, obviously. People using iTunes and iTunes Radio more. When more and more people are using Spotify, Pandora etc, this is a
Clever way to bring some of that back.

Also, it's a free album that comes with no catch. Other companies might have expected you to sign up for some spam or an opt out subscription.

Don't be fooled by the U2 haters. There are plenty if U2 fans that want this album and plenty of closet U2 fans.
 
LizKat

LizKat

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U2 can console itself by remembering historic performance data such as the fact that the debut in Paris in 1913 of Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring caused a near riot during the first act. A hundred years on, its iconic status in 20th century music is unquestioned.

If that fails to dry the tears back on the U2 ranch, then the take-home from Apple should do it... ;)
 
nagromme

nagromme

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Of those 33 million downloads, over 200 of them were by people who actually wanted the songs. That's WELL into triple-digit territory! Nice!
 
gugy

gugy

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Weird all this hate about U2.
Their albums are always among the best selling of all time and tours all sold out for so many years. I guess the MR hate folks are a huge minority on this universe.
 
R

Rigby

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Aug 5, 2008
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I enjoyed the album. While nowhere near as iconic as their first 5 albums, it has some of their best songs since the 1990s.

I think many people simply don't understand how music in the cloud works (and that you can easily hide any music you don't want to see in your library). In hindsight Apple/U2 could probably have achieved the same effect by simply offering the album for free on the iTunes store. I guess they wanted to try something new to create more attention.
 
G

genovelle

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May 8, 2008
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Rigby said:
I enjoyed the album. While nowhere near as iconic as their first 5 albums, it has some of their best songs since the 1990s.

I think many people simply don't understand how music in the cloud works (and that you can easily hide any music you don't want to see in your library). In hindsight Apple/U2 could probably have achieved the same effect by simply offering the album for free on the iTunes store. I guess they wanted to try something new to create more attention.
Click to expand...

They also wanted to limit it to real ITunes users. Not people who go and open a iTunes account just to get access. Keep in mind it can then be put on any device.

----------
OriginalMacRat said:
I've never heard of them outside of Apple announcements and advertisements.
Click to expand...

Wow!
 
groovyd

groovyd

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it's a great album... very well written... i couldn't be happier to have been given it for free and this reinforces my appreciation for apple. nobody made them do this, it was a gift.
 
cocky jeremy

cocky jeremy

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Jul 12, 2008
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fitshaced said:
Don't be fooled by the U2 haters. There are plenty if U2 fans that want this album and plenty of closet U2 fans.
Click to expand...

Don't be fooled by the truth. There are plenty of people that would rather stab themselves in the eardrums than to listen to this garbage, too. That's exactly why it should just be listed in iTunes as "free" instead of automatically put in everyone's Purchased tab. :eek:
 
inscrewtable

inscrewtable

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Apple could use its considerable muscle to provide free stuff on iTunes that genuinely enriches people's lives like selected titles from The Teaching Company. That would not only be more valuable to humanity but would be a PR coup of mega proportions.
 
fitshaced

fitshaced

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cocky jeremy said:
Don't be fooled by the truth. There are plenty of people that would rather stab themselves in the eardrums than to listen to this garbage, too. That's exactly why it should just be listed in iTunes as "free" instead of automatically put in everyone's Purchased tab. :eek:
Click to expand...
How many times have you listened to it?

----------
inscrewtable said:
Apple could use its considerable muscle to provide free stuff on iTunes that genuinely enriches people's lives like selected titles from The Teaching Company. That would not only be more valuable to humanity but would be a PR coup of mega proportions.
Click to expand...
They do these things by making selective apps on the App Store free on occasion. The ridiculous issue people have here is they think Apple has made them a U2 fan without their permission.
 
macs4nw

macs4nw

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Next-door from the little old lady from Pasadena..
Contrary to a lot of negative comments in the last week, by October 13, this album will reside on more storage/iTunes devices, than U2 could have ever dreamt to have albums downloaded thru the iTunes Store, the old fashioned way, in addition to streaming, etc.

U2 got the deal of a lifetime out of this. I know I'm probably in the minority here but, Thanks Tim!
 
fitshaced

fitshaced

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Futurix said:
Except the previous one - which was a big flop.
And the one before that only successeded because the lead single was used in Apple advertising...
Click to expand...

Flop it was not. It was a good album which made an awesome tour. As did the one before. But this album is better than those.
 
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