It didn’t happen with the Iraq War, police shootings or rampant government corruption, but America has finally found something we can be collectively outraged about.
We hate U2.
Last week, Apple announced it would be giving away the Irish band’s new album, “Songs of Innocence,” to every iTunes user on the planet — all 500 million of them.
And instead of being excited for the gift, many acted like Apple had just announced they’d released every photo in the cloud to Reddit.
How dare they! Invasion of privacy! Wired magazine called the marketing stunt “devious” and said getting a free record was “worse than spam.”
Apple quickly backtracked and, earlier this week, released a tool allowing users to delete “Songs of Innocence” from the iTunes library with one click.
You guys know the album was free, right?
The anger over receiving something that would have cost you a cool $17 just a few years ago is baffling — it’s not like Apple mailed a physical copy to everyone that had to be disposed of. The album is a digital product that can be wiped out with a simple click of the mouse.
Have we gotten so lazy that even this is too much?
Another common complaint was that many iTunes users might not know or like U2, especially those who live in non-Western nations.
Ignoring the fact that even the man living on the most remote island probably has an opinion on the merits of Bono’s “Fly” sunglasses, what’s wrong with giving people the opportunity to try something new? If Apple wants to hand me free music from different countries and cultures, well, here’s my iTunes password. I’ll give the songs a listen — and if I don’t like them, click, they’re gone. At best, I’ll expand my musical taste, and at worst, I’m risking a callused thumb.
You also have to believe that so much of the sarcasm, scorn and whining around the release is thanks to the band involved — U2 has been around for nearly 40 years, and to many, the group represents the bygone days of the music biz. (The band’s earnestness and political speechifying doesn’t help their likability much, either.)
It’s easy to pile on U2, and it’s just the latest manifestation of music snobbery. Saying you hate “Songs of Innocence” and complaining about getting it for free is a way to mark yourself as younger and hipper.
We get it. You’re probably a Grizzly Bear fan.
“Songs of Innocence” is hardly the band’s greatest album, but truth be told, I like it a bit because I didn’t pay a dime for it. I invested nothing.
And if the band would like to try the same strategy for their inevitable upcoming world tour, I’m all ears.