Apple links new U2 album to iTunes accounts, causes unapproved auto-downloads
As part of its free promotional offer of U2's "Songs of Innocence" LP, it appears Apple is flagging the content as owned for all iTunes accounts, meaning iOS device users who have automatic downloads enabled will get the entire album pushed to their device without prior approval.
First spotted by ArsTechnica, U2's "Songs of Innocence" is now showing up in the iOS Music app even if users did not previously opt-in to accept the free content.
Because Apple is linking the album with iTunes accounts on their end, iOS device owners who have automatic music downloads enabled will get the U2 cuts piped to their devices without user intervention. Those who have automatic downloads deactivated will still see "Songs of Innocence" tracks in their playlists as available to download from the cloud.
Due to the way iTunes is set up, removing the tracks could be a hassle. On a Mac, deleting the LP from the Album view is enough, but with iOS the process is more involved. iPhone owners can simply hide the album by toggling the "Show all music" option in the Music app, which makes only onboard content viewable. Alternatively, disabling automatic iTunes downloads in App Store settings will more permanently keep the album off an iOS device, but by doing so users give up the convenience of having wanted content pushed over.
Apple announced at the iPhone 6 event on Tuesday that it was giving away free copies of "Songs of Innocence" to more than 500 million iTunes customers as part of the "biggest album release in history." It was later learned that Apple paid an undisclosed sum for exclusive first rights to the LP and will be using the album's first single to promote products like iTunes and the iPhone 6.
First spotted by ArsTechnica, U2's "Songs of Innocence" is now showing up in the iOS Music app even if users did not previously opt-in to accept the free content.
Because Apple is linking the album with iTunes accounts on their end, iOS device owners who have automatic music downloads enabled will get the U2 cuts piped to their devices without user intervention. Those who have automatic downloads deactivated will still see "Songs of Innocence" tracks in their playlists as available to download from the cloud.
Due to the way iTunes is set up, removing the tracks could be a hassle. On a Mac, deleting the LP from the Album view is enough, but with iOS the process is more involved. iPhone owners can simply hide the album by toggling the "Show all music" option in the Music app, which makes only onboard content viewable. Alternatively, disabling automatic iTunes downloads in App Store settings will more permanently keep the album off an iOS device, but by doing so users give up the convenience of having wanted content pushed over.
Apple announced at the iPhone 6 event on Tuesday that it was giving away free copies of "Songs of Innocence" to more than 500 million iTunes customers as part of the "biggest album release in history." It was later learned that Apple paid an undisclosed sum for exclusive first rights to the LP and will be using the album's first single to promote products like iTunes and the iPhone 6.
Comments
So just delete it?
So people are complaining about free stuff now?
I could see a scenario where people received unwanted music via cellular and could have exceeded their download limit for the month, incurring an unwanted overage fee.
This is an outrage. And I just put my pitchfork and torch away. /s
Downloaded and listened to the album; too bad it's so unremarkable. Hope Apple didn't pay too much for it.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/26/u2-bono-disappointed-album-sales
"Hey Look, Apple just gave us a free album that shows up in our library without even needing to be redeemed!! What an evil company"
Not thought through very well. Or at least, glitchy: I have auto-downloads enabled, and I did NOT get it. I had to go to Purchased to download it manually, (And figuring out to even do that was non-obvious.)
The store should simply have had a big Free banner, and this could have worked just like the Free Song of the Week, only promoted more. No need to mix things up!
(Plus, I like a lot of U2 but didn't care for this album. Not painful, just unmemorable.)
One nice touch: PDF album notes included. Wish that was true of more albums than it is.
Edit: successfully remove the mp3 on purchased
So badly thought out.
Pleased drop dead. No, really, drop dead. I mean it. What a tool.
U2's worst album in years.
Apple, pays artists good money up front for music & gives it to their customers free, we keep buying more iGadgets, it's a win, win, win
Am I missing something? Can't you just swipe to delete?
Oh, the absolute horror. People have no problem uploading every shred of info about themselves to Google or Facebook who rape any semblance of privacy, but are "oh so offended" when a free album shows up on their device. God forbid.
YES. This is the first thing that came to mind. I thought to myself "We're gonna see a lot more free albums after product launches.
If Apple could get Dr. Dre to release Detox exclusively on iTunes that would be a HUGE win. You may not know this but Detox is the most anticipated rap album in history but never released.
Slightly off-topic:
Anyone notice Tim Cook was acting more gay than usual? The conversation at the end with Bono made it edpecially apparent.
Also every time I saw Cook on stage I couldn't help but notice how young and hip he looked. Must be all the fashion icons at Apple.
(NO I do not have anything against gays. Just a friendly observation. Tim Cook has actually been growing on me lately)
What you are missing is that we are in the midst of a trolling frenzy of biblical proportions, in which the ability of these creatures to distinguish contentious from totally absurd goes completely out the window. In the past the magnitude seems to have correlated with the subsequent success of the products involved, which portends well for the latest stuff.
ungrateful whiny child.