In a marketing tactic gone wrong, Apple’s offering free U2’s new band album Songs of Innocence, has created quite a negative stir. Guy Oseary, the band’s manager says, ‘it is a gift from Apple.’
Though, the recent backlash is not something Apple may have anticipated. There are some who have simply loved it while some may just go ahead and delete it.
For U2 this has brought in more bands getting listed with them and generated sky-rocketing mileage. Oseary informs that just two days after Apple gave away the album, 26 others appeared on iTunes chart. This is indeed exciting news for U2, to have been found and known by new people, worldwide.
In reality, user behavior cannot be tracked, as they may choose to listen to the album, as and when they want. As of now, U2 has not yet confirmed the number of downloads of the album. He feels that what Re/Code reports it to be two million downloads (just this Friday) they seem promising.
U2 and Apple have both declined to comment on how much the deal has been signed for. Reports of the deal doing the rounds put it somewhere around $100 million.
Tracking the band’s journey from scratch, U2 said it was very confident to get them the kind of coverage, it was looking for. The aim was to get the album out to as many people out there, as possible. U2 is happy to partner with Apple, as they are not only a part of U2’s family but buzzing with innovative ideas.
U2 shared a short but powerful story why they wanted to partner with Apple, again? 10 years back U2 joined hands with Steve Jobs to launch the iPod and boost the music industry. It is exactly after 10 years that they wished to do the same.
As far as the new marketing gig is concerned, U2 thinks that it is sure to garner mixed reactions. Not just that, people for years may contemplate to think of this as either good or bad, on our part. For now, Oseary says that a lot of people are literally finding or re-discovering U2. He is blown away by the stunt, pulled out by Apple, which managed to get them such raw traffic.
U2 is soon to release a deluxe version of the album in October, of this year. This version will have four new songs. With, five or seven acoustic songs and some songs available only for retail.
The current marketing tactic, U2 thinks, has been very out and loud. In future, they are not planning on implementing any such strategies. In the years to come, like all other marketing gimmicks, U2 will come up with new and better ones. Though, this so termed disruptive marketing managed to earn mixed responses, it is just the beginning.
As more and more marketers design robust plans, in a bid to stay relevant. Like Google and Amazon, Apple is experimenting with music. It is taking it to fresh markets, in a more organized and interactive of ways. It will be exciting to see how other players join in and lead to more personalized experiences.
