Tyler The Creator seems to be the latest person to get vocal with disgust over Apple’s recent “gift” of U2 to the public. Following their most recent iPhone presentation, Apple’s Tim Cook surprised everyone with the gift of the band’s newest album, Songs Of Innocence, treating it like the special dessert at the end of the meal. Instead, people are treating it like a turd in the punch bowl.
There are countless articles covering how to delete the songs, the lack of interest in the album, and the general anger at having the album automatically added to their Apple accounts. Tyler provided the best representation of all of these feelings in a few short statements from Twitter. From The Independent:
“Get off my f**king phone,” the Odd Future star lamented on Twitter.
“You couldn’t come up with an actual marketing idea?
“F**k @U2 I don’t want you. F**k Bono. I didn’t ask for you, I’m mad.”
“I did not [know] you were on my phone,” he continued. “Its legit like waking up with a pimple or like a herpes. I did know you were on my phone. What the f**k.”
Tyler warmed up to the idea a bit later, referring to the idea as “sick” at one point before returning to his original thought of “f*ck Bono.” It was perfect. I know I felt that way when I saw a free U2 album magically appear on my iTunes. And not out of some noble feeling of privacy or choice, I just don’t know having random music added to my account.
Now Apple and U2 aren’t taking it lying down. Sure they could’ve just released the album for free, giving the choice to people to download it on their own, but that’s not the point. Bono outlined the idea in a essay titled, Remember Us?:
Part of the DNA of this band has always been the desire to get our music to as many people as possible. In the next 24 hours, over a half a billion people are going to have Songs of Innocence… should they choose to check it out. That is so exciting. People who haven’t heard our music, or weren’t remotely interested, might play us for the first time because we’re in their library. Country fans, hip hop afficionados from east LA, electro poppers from Seoul, Bhangra fans from New Delhi, Highlifers in Accra… might JUST be tempted to check us out, even for a moment. What a mind blowing, head scratching, 21st century situation. Over 500 million people… that’s a billion ears. And for the people out there who have no interest in checking us out, look at it this way… the blood, sweat and tears of some Irish guys are in your junk mail.
I’m not buying it of course, but it’s a nice notion. I just don’t see some young start-up band getting the same $100 million treatment that U2 got in this situation. Plus you get into dark territory when you start “forcing” people to do anything. It never flies over without trouble.
How do you folks feel about it? Is Tyler spot on or should we give Bono a chance? I say foo on all of it, I want to listen to some Foghat.
(Via The Independent / The Verge / CBS / CNet / U2 / Tyler The Creator)
