U2's Bono on Collaborating With Apple: 'They Let Us Into the Labs'

[KazKam]

Sorry, Bono, but in order to manage 50,000 songs and 1,000 movies, a giant spreadsheet is EXACTLY what's needed. The only views that have any use to me in the most recent versions are the LIST views. All those other album art views are fluffy useless crap. I don't watch movies or listen to music very often in iTunes, that's what AppleTV and iPhone are for. But I DO use iTunes to curate all that media, and for that I need to be able to easily sort, scroll, and filter; and for that, you need a "spreadsheet."

Clearly I am not a fan of the direction iTunes is taking.

 

[Jason McAndrews]

Ha ha. I like it

I heard a sneak preview of Bono's solo album.

It's got a similar sound to the stuff he's done with U2, only less Edgy.

I see what you did there! LOL

 

[bawbac]

Bono said he had wondered why the album covers displayed on iTunes weren't interactive or why they didn't display archival photos, lyrics, or 3-D versions of band members: anything that would make for a more engaging visual experience with fans to complement the music.

Jobs replied that the operating system and the technology didn't quite exist yet for such an experience.

"But it does now," Bono said.

BS!
OS & technology was more then adequate.

Why not tell the truth.
Apple did not have the expertise to create such an experience or software at the time.

Why aren't some of these basic features still not available?

 

[dave2010]

Tax

I'm sure Bono's main collaboration with Apple is in working out how each of them can avoid tax using Ireland's business tax laws. I wonder if his shithouse album was just a tax dodge somehow?

 

[dougal55]

sighs...

I can understand why some of you don't like U2 for who they are.. a bunch of no-gooders who is now past their best.. that is your opinion and you know what, it DOES not bother me one bit... nada, zilch, nothing... thats your opinion..

You know I have followed U2 since I was a teenager back in the 1980s and they are still a great listen time and time again IMHO.. so their Songs of Innocence being given away for free is a bonus which I gladly took up and I don't see a problem with it (actually about 26 million fans didn't see a problem with it).. and stored on my iTunes.. and let me recall, that on the last tour they did a few years back, they were very very successful and having millions of people see them all over the globe so there is a big group of fans out there that does still love U2 along with new ones thanks to Songs of Innocence who would give an arm and a leg to see them live..

But on the other hand, this is the internet after all where, if you don't like U2 then move on there is nothing to see here and listen to someone else you might like such as Taylor Swift for one..and thats ok with me and ok with you.. you can express your opinion here and I express mine.. end of story..

 

[tkermit]

I just want CoverFlow back.

Here. Still runs perfectly on Yosemite with iTunes 12.

 

[Dsching]

hopefully Bono's secret sauce that has resulted in U2's latest turd albums didn't infect those in the lab.

I liked their last album.

 

[(Kerfuffle)]

sighs...

I can understand why some of you don't like U2 for who they are.. a bunch of no-gooders who is now past their best.. that is your opinion and you know what, it DOES not bother me one bit... nada, zilch, nothing... thats your opinion..

You know I have followed U2 since I was a teenager back in the 1980s and they are still a great listen time and time again IMHO.. so their Songs of Innocence being given away for free is a bonus which I gladly took up and I don't see a problem with it (actually about 26 million fans didn't see a problem with it).. and stored on my iTunes.. and let me recall, that on the last tour they did a few years back, they were very very successful and having millions of people see them all over the globe so there is a big group of fans out there that does still love U2 along with new ones thanks to Songs of Innocence who would give an arm and a leg to see them live..

But on the other hand, this is the internet after all where, if you don't like U2 then move on there is nothing to see here and listen to someone else you might like such as Taylor Swift for one..and thats ok with me and ok with you.. you can express your opinion here and I express mine.. end of story..

Hey look, someone with sense! I'm indifferent towards U2, but this post is great. I don't know why people throw such a fit when you listen to a band or artist they don't like. You listening to U2 or me listening to Taylor Swift doesn't affect them anyway.

 

[genovelle]

Yes, screwing your loyal fans that pay $9.99 per month for access to your music via streaming services into paying an additional $9.99 to buy a CD at Target is "funny".

Streaming services that pay pennies on the dollar compared to what even radio pays are screwing the artist. I hope more artist follow suit because only the top brass at these companies that have no intent on making a profit benefit from this streaming at this point.

----------

Did they? I'd be quite surprised if that happened.

Personally, when a band announces their decision to try to pull me into the past, I inform them that I'm uninterested in their musical time machine and that I won't be listening to their album until they return to the present day (Spotify). There's hundreds of artists that I like, and most of them are on Spotify. I can live without Rammstein and the few other bands that insist on not being on Spotify. I figured other people felt similarly about the whiney bands that aren't content with getting paid for listens.

On that note, good bands get paid better via Spotify than bands not on Spotify over the course of several years. In the old world model, bands got paid once for an album whether it was any good or not. In this new model, if you make a timeless album, I'll listen to it again and again over the years so you'll get a higher reward, and if your album is a flash in the pan that I listen to 5 times before I'm tired of hearing it, you get next to nothing. Good artists should prefer this new model. Crappy artists (pop) know that this new model is fairer and want to stick with the old crappy one.

I have never heard an artist claim they get paid better than selling a record. I am an artist and follow the trends closely. Being paid on radio pays 50 or 60 times as much as on Spotify.

----------

I don't want to talk about Taylor Swift anymore than anyone else, but it is relevant to the discussion. The kinds of shenanigans that she pulled are exactly the kinds of things that a new music model will have to defend against/do away with. It is extremely difficult to sell consumers on the benefits of streaming services when major artists are yanking their entire libraries off whenever they feel like it.

These are problems that Apple needs to solve if they're going to survive and perhaps win in the new age of streaming music.

If these services were paying artist the equivalent of what they lose in sales, then they would be worth something.

 

[modul8tr]

I wonder if the projects U2 is working on are related to the projects Trent Reznor is working on?

Ding ding ding ding ding!!!!

Hey look, someone with sense! I'm indifferent towards U2, but this post is great. I don't know why people throw such a fit when you listen to a band or artist they don't like. You listening to U2 or me listening to Taylor Swift doesn't affect them anyway.

But then people can't bitch and moan, which, of course, is what it's all about.

 

[Dougie83]

It would be nice if Apple and U2 can drop a few more freebies into our libraries. Didn't realise how good they were until receiving their recent gift.

 

[CptnJustc]

Archival photos? Sure, I guess.

Lyrics? Yes, please!

3-D versions of band members? Uh....

 

[MarkCollette]

Did they? I'd be quite surprised if that happened.

Personally, when a band announces their decision to try to pull me into the past, I inform them that I'm uninterested in their musical time machine and that I won't be listening to their album until they return to the present day (Spotify). There's hundreds of artists that I like, and most of them are on Spotify. I can live without Rammstein and the few other bands that insist on not being on Spotify. I figured other people felt similarly about the whiney bands that aren't content with getting paid for listens.

On that note, good bands get paid better via Spotify than bands not on Spotify over the course of several years. In the old world model, bands got paid once for an album whether it was any good or not. In this new model, if you make a timeless album, I'll listen to it again and again over the years so you'll get a higher reward, and if your album is a flash in the pan that I listen to 5 times before I'm tired of hearing it, you get next to nothing. Good artists should prefer this new model. Crappy artists (pop) know that this new model is fairer and want to stick with the old crappy one.

There's a certain irony in bemoaning other remaining in the past technologically while espousing remaining in the past culturally.

I'm a fan of "timeless" as well, but there's a kind of stagnation is listening to the same thing year after year while eschewing current cultural trends.

I can imagine that any artist would prefer you to pay attention to their new works, reflecting their new life experiences and perspectives, rather than dwelling on their works they've performed ad nauseum, written at a less mature point in their past.

 

[Abacab]

I know what i like

Peter Gabriel put out an interactive CD 20 years ago I believe called "Secret Garden",
And recently photographer Armando Gallo's ap based on his book "I Know what I Like".
I bought the hardcover years ago and spent another 20 on this ap which brings his great work more depth and genius.
The old story of the Cream rising to the top always applies .

 

[Kissaragi]

What a ****

 

[MacintoshMan]

So basically Bono is responsible for iTunes becoming a cluster**** of non-essential features that are forced upon me and get worse with each release? Great.

 

[ttss6]

I just want for the Music app on my 6 Plus to have the album view as an option but by default let me access the same menus as I would in vertical orientation

 

[0xyMoron]

Bono talks like someone who'd be fun to get drunk with

 

[toph2toast]

I still don't understand why they haven't integrated iTunes LP onto the iPad. With all this non-sense about moving to the "post-pc" era, they have yet to push this onto their mobile devices. I would be purchasing loads of iTunes LP's if I could interact with it on my iPhone or iPad the same as I do on my computer. It really just blows my mind. Sorry for the rant.

 

[kwikdeth]

so we actually have Bono to blame for the catastrophe that is iTunes? now it all makes sense!!!!!

 

[TsunamiTheClown]

Bono said he had wondered why the album covers displayed on iTunes weren't interactive or why they didn't display archival photos, lyrics, or 3-D versions of band members: anything that would make for a more engaging visual experience with fans to complement the music.

Steve wouldn't have allow this.

 

[kwikdeth]

hopefully Bono's secret sauce that has resulted in U2's latest turd albums didn't infect those in the lab.

have you used itunes in the last 3-4 years?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I'm a fan of "timeless" as well, but there's a kind of stagnation is listening to the same thing year after year while eschewing current cultural trends.

I actually have a personal goal to find at least one new song every month worth adding to my ever growing list of favorites on Spotify. In the 3 years since I started with this personal goal (I have no intent of stopping ever) I've only gone a single month where I found nothing new (although I found something new on the last day of the preceding month and something new on the first day of the month after). That's just the minimum of what I want. I generally find ~7 new songs worth adding to my favorites list each month.

I find the new songs from a variety of sources... recommendations from friends, cross promotions between bands I like and other bands they know, new releases, recommendations from Spotify and MoodAgent... about the only place I don't look for new music is on the radio (although sometimes songs on the radio do reach me some other way, IE, through the new releases section at a store.)

 

[Swift]

I'm sorry but U2 isn't going to get me to buy new albums. It's funny how Taylor Swift pulls out of streaming and her album sales skyrocketed!

A lot of people, probably the majority, liked U2's free album, though they are getting long in the tooth.

And Taylor Swift's new album, which is terrific -- and I'm an old Dylan fan -- was selling like hotcakes anyway. The pulling out of Spotify, wasn't it? My iTunes Radio thing is streaming the whole album, and you have a big "Buy" icon next to every number, and for the album.

Streaming is a replacement for radio, which basically doesn't play hit radio anymore. It pays the artist next to nothing, so big acts don't like it, but people with a new hit love it. Better than radio, because friends will tell you about a new song or artist, and you can hear it immediately and usually buy it with an in-app purchase.

But I apologize, because you are obviously hip and in the know and U2 is not and they're old and yucky.

 

[Seoras]

My faith has been renewed in Apple

The quality of software coming out of Apple is the worst I've ever experienced.
It feels like the wheels are falling off.

Yet, when I read an article like this it renews my faith in the company.
Software can be fixed, I've released some crap in my career I'm not proud of.

What's important is that Apple remains true to its philosophy of "the intersection of technology and the arts".
Buying Beats, bring in their management and "opening the Kimono" to U2 all indicate that the CEO knows what kind of garden he inherited and how to keep it flowering every spring the way it has so spectacularly in the past.