Free U2 Album

A free U2 Album on iTunes. Apple and U2 have grown up together. Steve Jobs incorporated Apple in 1976, the same year that U2 formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School (Mountjoy) in Dublin. Both thrived on constant reinvention, retaining a loyal audience by delivering pioneering products – the iPhone, and U2’s ever more spectacular live shows.

The 2004 release of a U2-branded iPod first brought them together in a bid to strengthen their grips on the entertainment sector, but now the demise of the traditional record industry has given both middle-aged brands intimations of obsolescence.

Following the relative low sales of their 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, U2 feared that the paying public’s appetite for further releases was in decline. U2 aren’t the only victims – album downloads on Apple’s iTunes store are dwindling as fans turn to streaming services. 

Was the giveaway of Songs of Innocence a success ? Apple said a “record-breaking” 38 million people have already “accessed” the album, far more than would have bought or heard the record normally.

Bono remains unapologetic. He told Time: “We want to get these songs to as many people as we can. We went to Apple and we said ‘We’re not interested in free music – we think music is undervalued. Would you be interested in buying our album and getting it to all 500m of your iTunes accounts?"


Giving Songs of Innocence away makes sense for U2, since the album will act as a promotional tool for their next global tour.

Despite the negative reaction in some quarters, the union between Apple and U2 is set to strengthen. The partners are now embarking on a “secret project” to create a new digital music format which will compensate musicians for their efforts, and aims to revive the dying art of listening to a complete album.