Apple paid undisclosed sum to release U2's "Songs of Innocence" for free [u]
According to a report on Tuesday, Apple paid rock band U2 an unknown amount of money to distribute the group's latest "Songs of Innocence" LP to iTunes users free of charge, a gift to customers of the digital storefront.
As expected, Apple shelled out for the opportunity to give away a free copy of U2's Songs of Innocence to iTunes customers, a group that numbers nearly 500 million people, reports Time.
"We were paid," U2 frontman Bono said. "I don't believe in free music. Music is a sacrament."
He also alluded to a broken music charting system and an industry that has tried, but failed, to keep pace in a digital age. Ironically, Apple's iTunes nearly single-handedly brought about the seismic changes to which Bono refers.
The publication goes on to offer behind-the-scenes details of the iPhone 6 event aftermath. Bono reportedly chatted up longtime friend Jony Ive in the green room at Flint Center, who was joined by superstar designer -- and new Apple employee -- Marc Newson. A partnership was described between the three, with Bono referring to themselves as the "three amigos."
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday brought U2 to the stage for a performance as a follow-up to the "One more thing..." Apple Watch debut. Following the live session, Cook and Bono had a slightly uncomfortable -- and scripted -- back-and-forth that culminated in the announcement that iTunes would be giving away U2's album for free.
Update: A follow-up report by The Wall Street Journal provides additional details of the U2 tie-up. As part of the deal with Universal, Apple will use the single debuted today, "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)," in a commercial blitz for the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch supposedly worth some $100 million. Further, Apple's iTunes, iTunes Radio and Beats Radio have a 25-day exclusive on the LP. U2's Songs of Innocence will be released on physical formats on Oct. 14, with the copies slated to include additional tracks.
As expected, Apple shelled out for the opportunity to give away a free copy of U2's Songs of Innocence to iTunes customers, a group that numbers nearly 500 million people, reports Time.
"We were paid," U2 frontman Bono said. "I don't believe in free music. Music is a sacrament."
He also alluded to a broken music charting system and an industry that has tried, but failed, to keep pace in a digital age. Ironically, Apple's iTunes nearly single-handedly brought about the seismic changes to which Bono refers.
The publication goes on to offer behind-the-scenes details of the iPhone 6 event aftermath. Bono reportedly chatted up longtime friend Jony Ive in the green room at Flint Center, who was joined by superstar designer -- and new Apple employee -- Marc Newson. A partnership was described between the three, with Bono referring to themselves as the "three amigos."
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday brought U2 to the stage for a performance as a follow-up to the "One more thing..." Apple Watch debut. Following the live session, Cook and Bono had a slightly uncomfortable -- and scripted -- back-and-forth that culminated in the announcement that iTunes would be giving away U2's album for free.
Update: A follow-up report by The Wall Street Journal provides additional details of the U2 tie-up. As part of the deal with Universal, Apple will use the single debuted today, "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)," in a commercial blitz for the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch supposedly worth some $100 million. Further, Apple's iTunes, iTunes Radio and Beats Radio have a 25-day exclusive on the LP. U2's Songs of Innocence will be released on physical formats on Oct. 14, with the copies slated to include additional tracks.
Comments
Suffice it to say we’re probably talking 7 or 8 figures.
500 million copies at 9.99 equals about 4,995,000,000 or $5 billion but let's say the sale price is $6 it would be $3 billion. It just might be somewhere around there, marketing via U2 that's a an expense write-off.
It's not $9.99 per download to the artist. Apple takes a cut and I do not know what percentage that would be.
For that much it seems like they could've gotten Bono to practice his lines for the reveal. Man that seemed like it took forever.
What we didn't know is that the amount was undisclosed!
Kudos to Time for digging that detail up. And here I was believing I knew the number....
Wonder what this act of generosity is all about... Compensation for ugly iPhone 6 and iWatch designs?
Most likely to see if giving something for free gives whiners like you something to b!tch about.
I doubt they would have calculated it that way. More likely would look at potential earnings for the LP if sold directly to customers and came to an agreed figure of how much to compensate as a result of giving it away for free. No idea what that figure would be but as no where near 500 million would have bought the album via iTunes I'm sure it would be a lot less than $3 billion.
Still an expensive advertising endeavour though.
It's not $9.99 per download to the artist. Apple takes a cut and I do not know what percentage that would be.
Correct. Plus the record label gets some dough. The artist probably makes a buck plus change per album.
Album sales isn't the chief source of revenue for a band like U2 anyhow. They make way more money on tour. On their last tour in 2011, U2 grossed $736 million in ticket sales. That doesn't even include a cut of the concessions, plus all the money they make from merchandise (which is biiiig).
It's been said that Bruce Springsteen makes more money playing three shows at the Meadowlands than all of the royalties from his entire discography.
“I don’t believe in practicing lines. Ad lib is a sacrament.”
Suffice it to say we’re probably talking 7 or 8 figures.
Before or after the decimal point?
I kind of like the song they played. I could not figure out which song it was on the album when previewing in iTunes. More importantly I did not actually like the album. Oh well. Getting me a watch and probably an iPhones 6S Plus next year.
They went Gold off of iTunes in their prior album [500k sales US] and Platinum in disc/album sales.
So, you tell them 1-2 million purchases at around $9, per disc and you have $18 million they personally split amongst band members. Apple gets digital exclusivity and distributes to 500 million accounts.
U2 makes most of its profits from concerts, get global visibility, FOR FREE, and sells out world wide.
First of all, you'd base the purchase off of U2's average sales per release. Then factor in the most recent releases in popularity and you would probably get a purchase for full price sales of 1 million new discs.
They went Gold off of iTunes in their prior album [500k sales US] and Platinum in disc/album sales.
So, you tell them 1-2 million purchases at around $9, per disc and you have $18 million they personally split amongst band members. Apple gets digital exclusivity and distributes to 500 million accounts.
U2 makes most of its profits from concerts, get global visibility, FOR FREE, and sells out world wide.
And I missed the detail first time through the article that U2 will also add additional tracks to the physical formats. So it sounds like more songs will be on the CD when it is released than what is being given away on iTunes.