Songs of Innocence - Album Discussion Pt.2

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dan_smee said:
I've been trying to think of reasons why the acoustic session number if tracks can't be locked down yet, and I can only think it is because they are worried it will go too long. Now Bono has said Invisible will be there somewhere... Will be interesting to see a confirmed track list on U2.com soon


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Click to expand...

I thought one of the reasons was that they were considering giving different tracks to different vendors? Although I think that would be a mistake.
 
Just was reading some stuff about the way the album was released and I think that I may have come up with a route they should have taken. It would have been just as bold, no clumsy, "if you don't want it, here's the removal too BS.

They should have pushed it to every iTunes account as a pop-up. It would have simply said U2's new album SOI is available to you as a free gift from Apple. Press yes if you would like to download now, later, if you want to be reminded later, or no if you would not like the free album.

That's it. I dare say 75% would have said yes, and actually would have had a better rate of people actually listening if they are actively choosing it.

I stand by my opinion that if they they would have just put it out for free for people to come get, they would not have captured the new fans they were undoubtedly aiming for

There would have been little to no backlash, a huge number of listeners, and most likely better initial reviews.

Thoughts?
 
womanfish said:
Just was reading some stuff about the way the album was released and I think that I may have come up with a route they should have taken. It would have been just as bold, no clumsy, "if you don't want it, here's the removal too BS.

They should have pushed it to every iTunes account as a pop-up. It would have simply said U2's new album SOI is available to you as a free gift from Apple. Press yes if you would like to download now, later, if you want to be reminded later, or no if you would not like the free album.

That's it. I dare say 75% would have said yes, and actually would have had a better rate of people actually listening if they are actively choosing it.

I stand by my opinion that if they they would have just put it out for free for people to come get, they would not have captured the new fans they were undoubtedly aiming for

There would have been little to no backlash, a huge number of listeners, and most likely better initial reviews.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I see how this would be less inflammatory, but I think there are two reasons why it wouldn't have been better:

1. They would have got less new fans. People who are curious about new music would rather the work be done for them, not opt in, download, wait, and try. I'd say 25% of the new fans wouldn't have bothered at all

2. Why do they want to be less inflammatory? Less articles, less awareness. The overwhelming feeling is that for every negative article, there are numerous comments criticising the writer. It got them in news cycles, and it got them more publicity. They won.
 
dan_smee said:
I see how this would be less inflammatory, but I think there are two reasons why it wouldn't have been better:

1. They would have got less new fans. People who are curious about new music would rather the work be done for them, not opt in, download, wait, and try. I'd say 25% of the new fans wouldn't have bothered at all

2. Why do they want to be less inflammatory? Less articles, less awareness. The overwhelming feeling is that for every negative article, there are numerous comments criticising the writer. It got them in news cycles, and it got them more publicity. They won.
Click to expand...

This is true. Now that the initial furor has gone, I think that they had an overwhelming win. But it still bothers me, that there will be many people that won't give it a chance because of the way it showed up for them out of the blue.

Either way, it was something that got people talking about them again. Which hasn't happened for a while
 
womanfish said:
Just was reading some stuff about the way the album was released and I think that I may have come up with a route they should have taken. It would have been just as bold, no clumsy, "if you don't want it, here's the removal too BS.

They should have pushed it to every iTunes account as a pop-up. It would have simply said U2's new album SOI is available to you as a free gift from Apple. Press yes if you would like to download now, later, if you want to be reminded later, or no if you would not like the free album.

That's it. I dare say 75% would have said yes, and actually would have had a better rate of people actually listening if they are actively choosing it.

I stand by my opinion that if they they would have just put it out for free for people to come get, they would not have captured the new fans they were undoubtedly aiming for

There would have been little to no backlash, a huge number of listeners, and most likely better initial reviews.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I think a pop-up is the definition of spam. There would have been a lot of skepticism about whether there was a catch, many systems might prevent it, and the haters would still hate.

The truth is that the haters DON'T have a point. If you think they're reasonable, U2/Apple over-reached, and they're only reacting, you're mistaken. They're simply looking for an excuse to attack. The release didn't cause the attack, it was the excuse for the attack.
 
Some of us continue to be unable to distinguish fact from opinion. Anyone who says as a fact someone's opinion regarding this release is "mistaken" is mistaken...or is just so stuck in U2 fanboy mode that they can't see any other viewpoint than their own. How can an opinion about how someone felt about having U2 be stuck in their library be a "mistake"? A good deal of the tech and business world think this was a mistake by Apple...people who have no bone to pick with U2. The fact that Apple released a delete tool tells you that even they have been given some pause by the reaction. And the WSJ article mentioned that there was even a good deal of internal debate in Apple on whether this was a good idea or not. Dismissing all the concern over this release as "U2 hate" (when most people don't care about U2 one way or the other) is absurd...and kind of uncool to question everyone's motivation for complaining about this that way.

On the other hand, people who were saying this was some kind of a human rights violation were probably being a little unreasonable, IMO.

In any event, I thought this was the best alternate idea for the release I've read:

Earnie Shavers said:
The funny thing is, the 'biggest' way they could have sent this (on an all positive direction) would have been to just quietly out of nowhere load it onto their iTunes page, for free, and not said a single word. Nothing from U2. Nothing from Apple. Nothing from Universal. Just wait. It would have taken minutes to be discovered. The news goes everywhere. No word from anyone. Is it a mistake? Grab it quickly just in case.And then wait some more. Like, a week more. Let people just take it and listen and wonder wtf is this all about. Would have generated an almost equal level of noise because it's new and unusual and kinda funny - and entirely positive.
Click to expand...
 
Spot on Nick...:up:

Earnie's idea is great and all, but this release is what it is. We can speculate all day on how to do it better/less-grating, but it's all Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

U2 haters? It's a part of our fandom, you will always have to deal with those who hate what you love...let the furor die down, and let the music live on!

SOI is a very good album, enjoy it...:hug:
 
Nick66 said:
Anyone who says as a fact someone's opinion regarding this release is "mistaken" is mistaken...or is just so stuck in U2 fanboy mode that they can't see any other viewpoint than their own.
Click to expand...

One can argue anything. It amounts to :twocents:

Including a good deal of the industry.
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:
Spot on Nick...:up:

Earnie's idea is great and all, but this release is what it is. We can speculate all day on how to do it better/less-grating, but it's all Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

U2 haters? It's a part of our fandom, you will always have to deal with those who hate what you love...let the furor die down, and let the music live on!

SOI is a very good album, enjoy it...:hug:
Click to expand...

Of course...it is what it is. Actually I think this week no one is going to be talking about it...if it hasn't pretty much all died down already. U2, meanwhile, moves to the next phase of the roll out, the physical release and accompanying videos and other full out promotion (U2 and their label are still going to want to "sell" this record when people are actually able to buy it). Good times ahead.
 
The whole 'push' release furor is coming to an end...the Conan O'Brien piece was priceless...but onward, and upward!

CD release in 3 weeks, some new songs, some promo appearances and then tour time!

This is a good time for U2 fans!
 
I agree that all this "backlash" was actually a positive thing for U2, making more people talking about this release. Maybe it wasn't though for Apple but again they should just have put a delete button somewhere and they could have avoided this easily. This operation is still a very interesting and promising way to promote and sell music in the future if they just add these simple changes.

If U2 has benefited from all these reactions, getting more attention than they would have had otherwise at the end it was just a real problem for some really obtuse persons who despise one of the best band ever - objectively without any possible contest- for stupid reasons like Bono wearing sunglasses and trying to make a difference for great causes, the horror! Sorry but I can only see that as a win-win situation :applaud:.
 
prbiker15 said:
Didn't stop 10 million people from ordering the new iPhones.
Click to expand...
Of course not but from their point of view they probably didn't need that "bad" press to make it a huge success. But again it's all their fault they should have make it so that it could only be perceived as a gift that people can take if they want or delete. The downloads had to be automatic though so that they could make it sound like a big deal, "the biggest release ever in the music industry" but the tool to remove the album should have been ready from Day 1. Whatever... for U2 that wasn't a bad thing at all.
 
medley said:
I agree that all this "backlash" was actually a positive thing for U2, making more people talking about this release. Maybe it wasn't though for Apple but again they should just have put a delete button somewhere and they could have avoided this easily. This operation is still a very interesting and promising way to promote and sell music in the future if they just add these simple changes.

If U2 has benefited from all these reactions, getting more attention than they would have had otherwise at the end it was just a real problem for some really obtuse persons who despise one of the best band ever - objectively without any possible contest- for stupid reasons like Bono wearing sunglasses and trying to make a difference for great causes, the horror! Sorry but I can only see that as a win-win situation :applaud:.
Click to expand...

I do think that it galvanized people /fans in a way. For every horrible article written on facebook there would be at 75% of the responses being pro U2 and actually quite annoyed with people whining about the release.

That I think in the long run showed people that there was more to this and it actually showed that a good majority of those that received the album probably were not bothered by it and just took it for what it was, free music, whether it was from an artist they loved, hated, or didn't even know

Again. It's really nice to finally see the ridiculous articles finally stop. It will be interesting to see how this progresses. Radio interviews, covers of Time, RS and maybe Q. The physical release, I'm hoping some promo TV interviews and performances. I would have had them do Mean Tweets already. Not much better way to diffuse criticism than self deprecation.

Any way you look at it, this has been a huge couple weeks for them. Proud to have them as my band again.
 
womanfish said:
Just was reading some stuff about the way the album was released and I think that I may have come up with a route they should have taken. It would have been just as bold, no clumsy, "if you don't want it, here's the removal too BS.

They should have pushed it to every iTunes account as a pop-up. It would have simply said U2's new album SOI is available to you as a free gift from Apple. Press yes if you would like to download now, later, if you want to be reminded later, or no if you would not like the free album.

That's it. I dare say 75% would have said yes, and actually would have had a better rate of people actually listening if they are actively choosing it.

I stand by my opinion that if they they would have just put it out for free for people to come get, they would not have captured the new fans they were undoubtedly aiming for

There would have been little to no backlash, a huge number of listeners, and most likely better initial reviews.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

U2 wanted to target everyone - I.e fans of every music genre under the sun - and I question the wisdom in that. Is a nineteen year old hip hop fan going to want to listen to a bunch of songs by a dinosaur rock band, freebie gifted or not? I would say that for the vast, vast majority of iTunes customers, SOI is quietly sitting unnoticed or ignored and will remain that way forever. So I agree that some kind of simple "click here for new U2 album for free" pop-up (without the ridiculous publicity stunt which was frankly embarassing) would at least have caught the eye of people willing to give the album a chance. And the negative press and bitching wouldn't be hanging around SOI like a lingering stench.
 
ByLCw9oIYAAwfeJ.jpg:medium


I like this one.
 
lemonfly said:
I would say that for the vast, vast majority of iTunes customers, SOI is quietly sitting unnoticed or ignored and will remain that way forever.
Click to expand...

Considering that, according to the WSJ, an estimated 2/3 to 3/4 of those 500 million iTunes accounts are regarded as dormant, I'd say this is a pretty accurate statement.
 
Can't wait hear the album live!!!! OMG. So different feeling comparing to NLOTH and Bomb. Bomb was disappointment live. NLOTH was even worst. Only Boots got the crowd going. I hope they put some real good energy on this album live, the songs need just that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-IBKYT5qyo

If this kids managed to pull it off...
 
So....... after two days of a forced hiatus from the album, I threw it on for my drive home. A few things pop out to me immediately. The albums freshness of sound is amazing. I am in no way a music expert in any way but my old ears puck up a differing sound of records past. Not sure if if it's the absence of eno and lanois or maybe just a different producer that brought out this refreshing sound. This is an excellent album, it may never break i no the pantheon of, JT, TUF, AB, but must be in next grouping, say Pop, War, Zooropa. As the miles passed the songs did too and something way more important hit me about this album. I really really think it took all of the bands history to make this. It was the album U2 had to make, that all those supposed music critics and experts that slammed this album would never understand. It takes us fans that know the stories behind Cedarwood Road, Iris, The Troubles....
and so on. After so many listens I don't skip one song, great record.
 
YBORCITY said:
So....... after two days of a forced hiatus from the album, I threw it on for my drive home. A few things pop out to me immediately. The albums freshness of sound is amazing. I am in no way a music expert in any way but my old ears puck up a differing sound of records past. Not sure if if it's the absence of eno and lanois or maybe just a different producer that brought out this refreshing sound. This is an excellent album, it may never break i no the pantheon of, JT, TUF, AB, but must be in next grouping, say Pop, War, Zooropa. As the miles passed the songs did too and something way more important hit me about this album. I really really think it took all of the bands history to make this. It was the album U2 had to make, that all those supposed music critics and experts that slammed this album would never understand. It takes us fans that know the stories behind Cedarwood Road, Iris, The Troubles....
and so on. After so many listens I don't skip one song, great record.
Click to expand...

:up:
 
BoyOnTheHorizon said:
Can't wait hear the album live!!!! OMG. So different feeling comparing to NLOTH and Bomb. Bomb was disappointment live. NLOTH was even worst. Only Boots got the crowd going. I hope they put some real good energy on this album live, the songs need just that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-IBKYT5qyo

If this kids managed to pull it off...
Click to expand...


This is great. I think young people around the world getting into the new material is what this whole Apple thing was about.

So instead of a PR nightmare, this actually looks like they have achieved what they wanted.
 
lazarus said:
This is great. I think young people around the world getting into the new material is what this whole Apple thing was about.



So instead of a PR nightmare, this actually looks like they have achieved what they wanted.
Click to expand...


Exactly.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
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