Bono finally apologises for automatic album download
Bono has finally apologised for the automatic download of the 2014 U2 album Songs of Innocence.
When the album was released in September 2014, it was automatically downloaded onto the iTunes accounts of more than 500 million users.
Now, the band’s frontman has said he “takes full responsibility” for the outrage it caused.
The automatic download was met with much fury and anger from iTunes users: not due to them not authorising the download, but that the songs were nearly impossible to delete from accounts.
Writing for The Guardian, Bono explained he pitched the free album as Apple giving its users a gift, which was not well thought out with CEO Tim Cook.
“But we're not a subscription organisation,” Cook responded to Bono, who said “not yet”, then told the CEO that it will be “everyone's choice if they want to listen to the album.”
It is said that Apple paid U2 $100 million for the album that hit iTunes accounts on September 9th 2014, around the same time when Apple launched its iPhone 6.
The announcement was shared by Apple in a press release, but it seemed many users did not get the message and were perplexed when the list of songs magically appeared in their iTunes account.
The majority of users complained the album was added without their permission, while others simply did not like U2.
Following the nearly instant angry tweets, comments and complaints, Apple launched a dedicated page that helped users remove Songs of Innocence - just six days after the album was released.
Users had to go through and delete each song manually, or hide the album from their iTunes accounts.
“I take full responsibility. Not Guy O, not Edge, not Adam, not Larry, not Tim Cook, not Eddy Cue,” Bono told The Guardian.
“I'd thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out toward it. Not quite."
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