U2 and the album evolution

NEW YORK — Since U2 stunned the music world by delivering a surprise album at Apple’s iPhone 6 unveiling and making it available to a half-billion iTunes users for free, they’ve enjoyed an avalanche of publicity.

But who’s listening to it? Apple said on Monday that 33 million users downloaded or streamed Songs Of Innocence in the first six days of its release. Apple says that’s a record, but for U2’s manager, Guy Oseary, the numbers weren’t really the point: The album will live on in users’ iCloud and the band envision new listeners accessing it for the first time for years to come.

“We’re quite happy that 7 per cent of the planet has this album, and they can enjoy it at their leisure,” Oseary said.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers’ move was hotly debated within the industry as people tried to assess whether it was another stroke of genius from U2, a top-selling juggernaut for decades, or a ploy by an ageing group trying to make a splash in a landscape that has vastly changed since the band’s last album in 2009.

Back then, U2 frontman Bono said: “We felt that the ‘album’ is almost an extinct species, and we (tried to) create a mood and feeling, and a beginning, middle and an end. And I suppose we’ve made a work that is a bit challenging for people who have grown up on a diet of pop stars.”

That diet has become even more extreme since, with album sales continuing to plummet, singles dominating and streaming services including Spotify and even iTunes helping to diminish the impact of a cohesive art form album.

So what is U2 trying to achieve with their latest Apple alliance? Oseary said the band achieved one goal: Keeping the integrity of Songs Of Innocence intact by releasing it as an album.

As far as U2’s larger business goals are concerned, Oseary said: “Maybe in a few years things will start making sense, or they won’t. But that’s not our job. Our job is to make sure the music is in as many hands as possible. This was an incredible opportunity to do that.”

U2 joined Jay Z, Beyonce and a growing number of artistes who are working out exclusive corporate deals and employing guerrilla ad campaigns. U2 and Interscope Records get handsomely paid — something that’s no longer guaranteed from album sales alone — and the money comes on upfront. Apple continues a high-profile relationship with a long-time business and philanthropic partner, plus earns more credit for innovation. Fans get something for free and those who don’t want it can just ignore it.

“I applaud each of those artistes creating a stir and not just falling into a predictable marketing strategy,” longtime producer and Sony Music Entertainment executive Clive Davis said. “I think in the case of Beyonce and Jay Z, they had successful results triggering so much extra media attention and coverage because they didn’t do things in a formulaic kind of manner.”

But there may be penalties to pay later if physical retailers refuse to stock the album. And there are still lots of questions: Will fans now buy a physical copy, set to drop on Oct 14? Will the band lose some of their cool? There have already been complaints from some who didn’t want a U2 album on their cloud — even as a gift.

Rob Beckham, an agent with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment who handles some of country music’s biggest stars, thinks any negatives that might emerge have already been offset. All acts suffer a cooling of interest when their careers reach into the decades, he said, and the trick is to find ways to rekindle interest and build new audiences. In some ways, he feels the excitement over an innovative move will inspire the industry.

“People still have to have a passion for the music,” Beckham said. “They have to have a passion to buy it, the passion to steal it or the passion to copy it. To me, the best part of this is they’re getting new music into the marketplace. The hardest part is (what happens) if record labels are not able to sell music and make money, then you’re going to see a lot fewer artistes and a lot less music in the marketplace.”

There’s no question the album’s arrival will be one of 2014’s most memorable musical moments. Oseary declined to release financial details of the deal and said he was not privy to Apple’s spending on its advertising campaign. U2 are focused on next month’s deluxe edition release, which will include four unreleased songs and acoustic versions of album tracks, and he said they’re not ready to talk about the forthcoming album, Songs Of Experience, or speculation that a tour announcement is imminent.

“I think it’s great for music,” said Oseary. “Someone right now may have seen this happen and they may decide they want to do something amazing with artwork or with lyrics or something amazing with a video or photos. We don’t know what someone else will innovate, but it’s great to see something exciting happen and see big companies launch something with new music.” AP