By Islam El-Sakka
U2 frontman Bono has acknowledged that the band "went too far" when their 2015 album "Songs of Innocence" was automatically added to more than 500 million iTunes accounts worldwide without users' consent. Speaking to The New York Times, Bono said: "I went too far on that one."
Backlash Over Automatic Download
The release sparked immediate backlash as users discovered the album already in their libraries whether they wanted it or not. Bono revealed that the band's former manager Paul McGuinness and late Apple co-founder Tim Cook shared similar reservations. Both questioned why a group that spent decades convincing people to pay for music would give it away for free.
Experimenting With Music Business Model
Bono described the move as an experiment to see if a company would pay for the music and then distribute it. He said: "It's going to take some experimentation to fix the music [business]. It's astonishing how little other musicians are paid and it's frightening. But yeah, that was all on me."
Bandmates Defend Risk-Taking
Guitarist The Edge defended the decision, insisting that the band must "take risks" and that failure is "part of the gig." Producer Flood, speaking in 2015, saw a positive outcome: the stunt raised questions about how society values music and whether listeners truly have choice.
Previous Milk Analogy
Bono previously compared the situation to delivering an unwanted "bottle of milk" to every house. In a 2022 interview, he elaborated: "We didn't just put our bottle of milk at the door but in every fridge in every house in town. In some cases we poured it on to the good people's cornflakes." U2 are currently celebrating their 50th anniversary since forming in 1976.
