‘Songs of Innocence’

It will likely go down as the most dramatic album release in history – Apple gifted the latest album released by U2 to over a half a billion music fans around the world. The album features eleven new songs from the band charting their early 70’s rock influences and their 80’s electronic and soul.

U2 has been an important partner with the iTunes Store since its inception, and Apple reports that the band “continues to be one of the most popular bands ever on the iTunes Store.”

So, with the largest album release ever, Songs of Innocence, (the  title of the new U2 album now seems  ironic) Bono says “It’s exciting and humbling to think that people who don’t know U2 or listen to rock music for that matter might check us out.”

Impressive as it was by Apple and U2, the way this album was gifted caused quite a stir. Apple automatically downloaded the album to every phone, tablet and computer that opened up iTunes on September 9^th. Then, Apple sat back, smiled and waited for people to say ‘Wow, thank you!’ And let’s face it, who wouldn’t want something for free?

However, what was humbling for both Apple and U2 was the public reaction – certainly NOT one that they expected.

The download, as generous as it was intended to be, startled, irked and freaked people out. Public outrage was immediate and fierce. Social networking lit up with a fury as millions of iTune users tweeted, posted and complained about what they felt was a serious breach in privacy.

Apple’s mistake? They simply forgot to ask. They forgot that people, in general, like a choice. People know that they have given up some control over privacy by signing up for all of those internet apps, but the public likes to feel that they still have some control.

In a nutshell, as they say, we want to choose what we click on, we want to choose what we pay for and we want to choose what we listen to.

Had Apple simply posted a message to all iTune account holders that they were offering the new U2 album for free, the reaction would have been very different indeed. In response to the public outcry, Apple set up an official webpage to help people delete the album from their iTunes accounts.

Interestingly, the users most irate were the younger crowd. Their reaction had less to do with the album itself, and more to do with the apparent breach in privacy. It is a myth that the younger internet users are more comfortable than their older counterparts with sensitive data about them being collected online and the price to be paid for privacy

This reaction will certainly be noted by all big companies, and will change the way many do business electronically. So, we are not uploading anything into your phones, ever. But if you would like a quote or you have a friend that might benefit from our home, car, business, life, disability…insurance, please give us a call. 1-800-361-0941.