Why is Bono saying sorry??

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I was sure it was tongue in cheek. The news story is being reproduced throughout the world. It's lazy journalism - people re-writing the story by reading the quote, not listening to the tone or watching it in context.
 
Why would it be tongue in cheek? They pissed a lot of people off and it was a huge PR hit - the negative far far far outweighed the positive (how many people checked it out). Whether they care or not, or think whether ultimately it was to some degree a mistake or not (maybe should have been pull over push) - different story. But that it did anger a lot of people and is rightly or wrongly widely accepted to have been a disaster is something they absolutely have to talk to.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
Why would it be tongue in cheek? They pissed a lot of people off and it was a huge PR hit - the negative far far far outweighed the positive (how many people checked it out). Whether they care or not, or think whether ultimately it was to some degree a mistake or not (maybe should have been pull over push) - different story. But that it did anger a lot of people and is rightly or wrongly widely accepted to have been a disaster is something they absolutely have to talk to.
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They made the decision to release it that way,They knew full well it would piss alot of people off.

Dont say sorry for it now "stick by it". Its not very punk rock to say sorry (stealing a line from Bono)

The apple tool shouldnt have been created either. It should have been there from the start not made a week in which made the band look stupid.it should of been there from the begining or not at all.

I did think bono was taking the piss when he spoke about it in the video
 
The release method got absolutely slammed by the press. Many people who got the album, and a large portion of those numbers, didn't want it.

This was not a good idea. The negative press from the release has far outweighed the actual music. NOBODY is discussing the music outside of U2 fan sites.

They may have gotten it out to a lot of people, but a lot more were annoyed.

The release made them a punchline.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
The release method got absolutely slammed by the press. Many people who got the album, and a large portion of those numbers, didn't want it.

This was not a good idea. The negative press from the release has far outweighed the actual music. NOBODY is discussing the music outside of U2 fan sites.

They may have gotten it out to a lot of people, but a lot more were annoyed.

The release made them a punchline.
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Yup. And the fact that the music has received so little attention surely couldn't have been the intended outcome.
 
Diemen said:
81 million people accessing it and 26 million downloading in full sounds like a pretty good outcome to me. :shrug:
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Yes, so they might be very happy with the reality while at the same time being (at the very least) pissed about the perception. As it stands right now, the story of this album will forever more be the 'fuck up' forced release.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
Yes, so they might be very happy with the reality while at the same time being (at the very least) pissed about the perception. As it stands right now, the story of this album will forever more be the 'fuck up' forced release.
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This. I can honestly care less about how the release was perceived, because it benefited them. The month is over, life goes on. Too bad the media and the trolls will keep bringing it up for the rest of time.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
The release method got absolutely slammed by the press. Many people who got the album, and a large portion of those numbers, didn't want it.

This was not a good idea. The negative press from the release has far outweighed the actual music. NOBODY is discussing the music outside of U2 fan sites.

They may have gotten it out to a lot of people, but a lot more were annoyed.

The release made them a punchline.
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Absolutely. They shot themselves in both feet with this release, and then tried to run a marathon. This may have done irreparable damage to their image. Yes they'll still sell tickets, but that's not the end all be all of the situation. We have a PR backlash that will make Pop and Rattle and hum look like nothing,

They should have just released the album normally. It would've gone to #1, beating Florida-Georgia-Whatever. Yes, the album would've dropped like a rock after that, but who cares? People would've seen it for the great collection of music it is, not this controversial press story.

The hipsters/haters would be nowhere to be found near this band/album. Sure, it might have only sold 3 million copies, but U2 wouldn't be getting drug through the mud right now, and people would like the album or not on it's own merits.



To say this release method was a success is not entirely accurate. You got the album to a lot of people who either hate the band, hate apple, or who just buy into the press's stories. They botched this release, plain and simple.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Let's be honest, all we're really doing here is this:

jif%20dog%20tail.gif
 
Bono's statement was totally tongue in cheek. He or anyone in U2 should never apologize. It makes them look lazy, silly and defensive. Don't regret anything. Media is running with the story and don't seem to get the irony. It was so clear in the video that he's being sarcastic. A real apology sounds and looks different.

What's done is done, you cannot reverse it, now make the best out of it. It's time to start focusing on the positive stuff again.
 
Diemen said:
81 million people accessing it and 26 million downloading in full sounds like a pretty good outcome to me. :shrug:
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Exactly, I don't understand how anyone could think this was a "PR hit" or a "Blunder" on the band's part. The positives far outweigh the negatives here and my only concern is that it may be much harder to get tickets now because so many more people checked out this album than NLOTH.
 
Bono should have looked into the camera when he read that question and said: No, we cannot guarantee that we won't be doing it again. In fact, it was quite fun to spam your phones and libraries. See you next time! :happy:
 
mikal said:
Exactly, I don't understand how anyone could think this was a "PR hit" or a "Blunder" on the band's part. The positives far outweigh the negatives here and my only concern is that it may be much harder to get tickets now because so many more people checked out this album than NLOTH.
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If I went to my marketing director and told them that I had an idea that would give us great exposure, but 80% of the press coverage will be negative... I'd get fired.

Did they sell a lot of their back catalog because of this? Sure. But that always happens when new shit's released. Did it happen more than usual? Maybe, I really don't have the numbers on that.

In the short term this release method was a bad idea. Could it end up as a good thing long term, by exposing a new market to the album and their music? Maybe, but the jury is still out on that.
 
prbiker15 said:
This. I can honestly care less about how the release was perceived, because it benefited them. The month is over, life goes on. Too bad the media and the trolls will keep bringing it up for the rest of time.
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If you can honestly care less, then how much do you really care about how the release was perceived?
 
last unicorn said:
Bono's statement was totally tongue in cheek. He or anyone in U2 should never apologize. It makes them look lazy, silly and defensive. Don't regret anything. Media is running with the story and don't seem to get the irony. It was so clear in the video that he's being sarcastic. A real apology sounds and looks different.

What's done is done, you cannot reverse it, now make the best out of it. It's time to start focusing on the positive stuff again.
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This
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
If I went to my marketing director and told them that I had an idea that would give us great exposure, but 80% of the press coverage will be negative... I'd get fired.

Did they sell a lot of their back catalog because of this? Sure. But that always happens when new shit's released. Did it happen more than usual? Maybe, I really don't have the numbers on that.

In the short term this release method was a bad idea. Could it end up as a good thing long term, by exposing a new market to the album and their music? Maybe, but the jury is still out on that.
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And I think you answered your own argument there. Press coverage and overall marketing success aren't always mutually exclusive. What turned the tables is that the "negative press" ended up being way more effective advertising than the band could have imagined. Look at the overall exposure today and then imagine if they had just dropped the album out there with no Apple tie in or commercial. There's no way that 26 million people would have downloaded the album. Yes there would have been less negative press, but again, see my point regarding bad press being better than no press.
 
mikal said:
Yes there would have been less negative press, but again, see my point regarding bad press being better than no press.
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I have said this already but I would rather have people saying something negative about U2 than not knowing they exist.

People need to calm the fuck down. I personally think this is going to blow over but if others don't, maybe it's time to move on to another band that will be less "embarrassing".
 
I wish Bono wouldn't have apologised just so we didn't have to endure this fucking argument again here. And "apologising" basically gave new life to a story that had pretty much died down.

I'll leave it it others to judge the sincerity of the apology and whether it was warranted. But in terms of moving past this, I think it was a mistake.
 
The thing that bugs me is that Bono said he couldn't bear the thought of putting out an album that no one hears, hence this apple stunt.

Sounds more like insecurity than actual faith in the music being released.

Also, If this truly was their most personal record, then the whole stunt cheapens the fuck out of it.

If it truly is their most personal work (to me it's not, their JT B-sides sounded more personal, biographical lyrics aside), then they did everything in their power to take the focus away from the art.
 
Yeah, like I said, no matter how you feel about the initial decision to drop this in people's iTunes, I think the apology was a mistake. You made a marketing decision with the best marketing people in the world, now live with it. As Headache said, maybe it was a bad call. Or perhaps Mikal's right and the benefits outweigh the negatives. But either way, you made a call now stick with it and don't be a punk. Apologising makes you look weak and adds fuel to the fire. If you believe in what you've done, convince people you're right. Don't pander.

And it doesn't matter if Bono's apology was sincere or snark. ALL that matters is how it's perceived.

Anyway, isnt it a little early for U2 to be second guessing themselves? Usually they wait until the next record before they slam what they did on the previous one.
 
ozeeko said:
The thing that bugs me is that Bono said he couldn't bear the thought of putting out an album that no one hears, hence this apple stunt.

Sounds more like insecurity than actual faith in the music being released.

Also, If this truly was their most personal record, then the whole stunt cheapens the fuck out of it.

If it truly is their most personal work (to me it's not, their JT B-sides sounded more personal, biographical lyrics aside), then they did everything in their power to take the focus away from the art.
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I hear you, but that's today's music market. So much stuff gets released and there is almost NO retail presence any more. I remember when the Sunday adds dedicated a page to MUSIC releases alone. Now they are tacked to the bottom of the DVD/Blu-ray releases.

Bono's apology, tongue-in-cheek...his statement about dropping free music so it has a chance of being heard...true...:yes:
 
Another quibble:

This whole "our most personal record" thing...

It always seemed to me that artists, in general (at least the sincere ones), don't expect their most personal works to ever be received well.

Wouldn't it have seemed disingenuous (and anachronistic, but just go with it) for Martin Scorsese to take over everyone's TV set and air "Last Temptation of Christ", with a disclaimer from the director telling everyone "this is my most personal work to date and I couldn't risk not having everyone on the planet watch it to see how meaningful it is."

Cuz, to me, that's kinda what U2 did here...

If the record was that personal to them, I don't think all this bullshit would be necessary. On some level, it should be gratifying enough for them just having created the music in the first place.

I dunno, maybe I'm a snob? Maybe I expect too much from artists?
 
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