From VICE · Lauren Boisvert · · 1m
Bono Admits U2 Album Download Went Too Far
Bono admits giving millions of iTunes users a free U2 album they couldn't delete went too far.
In brief
Bono admits giving millions of iTunes users a free U2 album they couldn't delete went too far. Bono admits U2's 2014 automatic Songs Of Innocence album download for iTunes users was an overreach that went too far. Originally reported by VICE.
Songs Of Innocence Incident
U2 gave free digital copies of their 2014 album to all itunes users automatically.
Users Couldn't Remove Album
The album downloaded to everyone's itunes library and couldn't be deleted.
Bono Calls It a Gross Invasion
Bono described the move as putting a bottle of milk in people's fridge they weren't asking for.
“a gross invasion”
Bono Admits Going Too Far
Bono admitted in 2026 he went too far with the album release strategy.
“went too far on that one”
U2's Experiment
U2 wanted to test if companies would pay for their music and distribute it.
Flood Questions Music Value
Producer Flood said the incident raised questions about music's value in society.
“it brought about the question of what are peoples listening tastes”
Here's the gist
Bono admits U2's 2014 automatic Songs Of Innocence album download for iTunes users was an overreach that went too far.
