Apple’s $100m U2 Fail

When U2’s new album, Songs Of Innocence, was rumoured to be bundled in with the iPhone 6 on 8th September, 2014, the band’s official spokespeople denied any involvement with Apple's product launch. But the following day, U2 did indeed turn up at Tim Cook’s keynote - with an initiative to ‘gift’ the album, for free, to over half a billion iTunes users. Within days, the scheme backfired, and Apple had to create a bespoke website for users to remove it from their collections. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why users felt so violated when being given free music; explore the backlash within the music industry to the deal; and enjoy Bono’s milk-based almost-apology… Further Reading: ‘Analyzing Apple's U2 Mistake’ (Forbes, 2014): https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbyowsinski/2014/09/18/analyzing-apples-u2-mistake/?sh=65492cde4939 ‘Apple's Devious U2 Album Giveaway Is Even Worse Than Spam’ (WIRED, 2014): https://www.wired.com/2014/09/apples-devious-u2-album-giveaway-even-worse-spam/ Tim Cook and Bono’s awkward stage bantz (Apple Keynote, 2014): https://youtu.be/38IqQpwPe7s?t=6610 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #2010s #Music #Technology #Mistakes #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices