It's for charity
cjboog said:
Which was an incredibly stupid thing to do form a business perspective. Today it's like Itunes is the gateway to success in America, everyone has Itunes and if they released Saints on Itunes, it would be much more successful than it has been in the US up to this point.
I can only hope that U2 decided to leave the U.S. to download the Superdome version of the Saints performance ONLY because the charity the song was even covered for in the first place...
The worldwide downloads...are they going to charity, too? I don't know, but the song will surely lead to some people purchasing U218, which should require further charity donations by U2 to Music Rising. I don't see that anywhere as part of the deal, so I doubt it. Maybe most people outside of the U.S. will overlook it, but if they pushed the song here IN the U.S. by making it commercially available, then that could, and should, cause a backlash against U2 for self-promotion through a charity cause. They get accused of that enough already.
So, it's clear that by releasing WITS for radio play in the U.S., the song that will promote U218 here, anyway, will not be Saints. It's already stalled on all the radio formats, while WITS has eclipsed it in terms of radio stations playing it in just 3 days. WITS is catchy enough to do well on even U.S. radio. I don't think it will be available for download here, though, as U2's strategy has been to go for the album sales in the U.S., which is where the real $$$ is, anyway.
Outside the U.S., I think U2 smartly releases every single commercially, and in many countries, that gets them the publicity of having a "Number 1 hit single", which by far outweighs the possible loss of album sales they might experience due to people choosing only the song versus the Album, Limited Edition Album, and DVD.
The only single U2 has really pushed in the U.S. with commercial sales via downloading is Vertigo, at least since 1997. Pop singles were released, and while they got far less airplay, they charted higher in some cases. Even with Vertigo, the downloads were not counted in time, so U2 was really just using the commercials for I-tunes to get a ton of extra exposure for the song, as well as the "Complete U2 I-Pod".
Chart watchers in the U.S. certainly get frustrated by what appears to be a lack of interest from U2 with respect to promotion of their singles. I think it's intentional, though, as while they might sell a lot more downloads and have songs charting on the Billboard Hot 100, it doesn't really do anything for them from a business standpoint, as in sell CD's and DVD's. If anything, with all the diverse, mostly lame, radio and music tastes here, U2 would likely lose CD and DVD sales by releasing their best songs for download in the U.S. They still would not get the buzz of having a "Huge or #1 hit single" here, so the net effect would probably be a money loss. This has not and will not be tolerated by U2 the business corporation, in my opinion.
So I guess I'm saying there is a method to their madness. In the ROW, U2 gets a lot more radio play and that, with downloads, gives them one hit single after another. If WITS was the lead off single of the next studio album, I think they would have pushed it harder and made it available for download, and as a result, ala Vertigo, had a hit single in the U.S. to promote new material. Since it's one of just two "new" songs on another Best Of, I don't see either songs being pushed as CD singles or downlaods here, as most established fans would only want those two songs and would not buy U218 if they could avoid it. I know their are diehards who will purchase everything, and so does U2. It's their casual fans and new generation fans they are going after here, and with both songs getting decent radio and video play, it will sell OK. I know it's easy to get free copies of both songs for a lot of people, but there are enough folks out there who will buy the CD just for those two songs to keep U2 from releasing them for download commercially and pushing them that way.
Sorry for the long, rambling post. I'm a conflicted fan these days. U2 has been making and playing spectacular music for my entire life...they are the soundtrack to my life. I admire their business savvy, too, but these days, it's really hard to tell which is more important to U2...making and playing music which allows them to make a great living, or is it making a great living by making and playing music. It appears to me, anyway, that it's become the latter, which may not bother hardly anyone at all. Like I said, though, it leaves me conflicted in my opinion of them right now.
If I were the band, I'd make Saints and Window a double A-sided single and put it out before Christmas.
Sadly, although I'm hopefully wrong, an amazing song like "WITS" won't chart well here because of the pure crap that's being fed to us now. When a song like "Fergalicious" is in the Top 3 songs of the nation you know the music industry here is in serious decline. Except for a select few, most of them could've been written by a 6 year old if they happen to have knowledge of sex, pimps, ho's, and weed.
I will admit I listen to them sometimes if I feel like being completely mindless for a few minutes, but I would never go to them in even a few months time. While "WITS" may not be the most in-depth or groundbreaking song U2 has done (although it is becoming one of my personal favs.) it is an infinite amount better than anything else right now. THIS is what lyrics are, talking about something that truly matters, this is what a voice is, not something electronically maniupulated up the Wazoo, this is what real music sounds like, yes U2 uses technology a bit, but they rely on their talent a lot more. Everything they do sounds authentic, not like someone magically pressed some buttons on a computer and out came a "song"
*ends rant"
