iPhone users in 2014 may remember that they received an album from U2 out of nowhere without Apple asking them if they wanted the album or not.
The sudden but free addition of the U2 album, named "Songs of Innocence," was met with annoyance and frustration since it takes up space better used for other, more wanted things.
Now the reason why everyone has a free U2 album has come to light.
U2 singer Bono recently admitted in his memoir, "Surrender, 40 Songs, One Story," that he was the reason behind everyone receiving "Songs of Innocence" for free, adding that he convinced Tim Cook to do so beforehand.
The singer also spoke about the birth of U2 as a band and his life before entering the limelight in his book.
The Story Behind The U2 'Songs Of Innocence' iTunes Addition
Bono mentioned in his memoir that he convinced Tim Cook to not only give U2's "Songs of Innocence" as a free album to Apple iOS users in 2014, he also had him buy the album for Apple to do so, per The Guardian.
In the interview, Bono mentioned that he was with Guy Oseary, U2's new manager at the time, Apple executives Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller at Tim Cook's office in Cupertino, California, when they talked about making "Songs of Innocence" free on iTunes.
For those unaware, iTunes is Apple's media player and iOS device manager that lets people play songs and audio, as well as add them to iOS devices.
Cook was skeptical of Bono's offer to give U2's album to iOS users for free. He argued that the point of what Apple is doing is to not give away music for free to make sure musicians get paid.
However, Bono countered Cook's argument, saying that instead of making iOS users pay for the album, Apple itself will pay U2 to give the album to iOS users for free as "a gift to people."
Bono then said that Cook was puzzled when he was explaining the mechanics of his offer, describing it as similar to what Netflix was doing at the time - buying the movie and giving it away to subscribers.
In the end, although Cook said to Bono that it wasn't a subscription service, Bono replied that Apple would be one, and he wanted U2's album to be the first it would offer to its users.
"I think we should give it away to everybody." Bono said. "I mean, it's their vhoice whether they want to listen to it."
The key word is "choice."
Aftermath Of Bono's Offer
The move was a disaster for Apple. According to Apple Insider, people worldwide complained about the album's addition and asked for instructions on how to remove the album from user libraries.
Media publications Wired and Salon described the giveaway as "devious," and "worse than spam," making the band "the most hated in America" at the time.
Apple released instructions on how to remove the album from their accounts less than a week after giving it for free.
Although Bono apologized for giving "songs of Innocence" to everyone back then, he also apologized to Apple in his memoir. According to Variety, Bono called his offer an incident - an "overreach" on his part.
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