U2's 'Songs of Innocence,' free of charge courtesy of Apple, nets over 2 million downloads
The “largest album release of all time” has resulted in more than 2 million downloads.
That’s according to Re/code, which reports that iTunes customers have downloaded that many copies of “Songs of Innocence.” “Songs of Innocence” is the new album by U2, which was released by Apple at last Tuesday’s iPhone 6 and Apple Watch event to over half a billion iTunes customers free of charge.
But just how many customers have downloaded the album of their own volition is unknown. You see, “Songs of Innocence” is automatically added to customers’ purchases and, given the nonrestrictive device settings, automatically downloaded as well.
At any rate, the publicity stunt appears to have also resulted in an increase in the downloads of U2′s previous albums, with at least 17 of them having entered the iTunes top 100 albums chart since the release of “Songs of Innocence.”
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The album is exclusive to Apple until the middle of October. In addition to the iTunes Store, it’s also available to stream via Apple’s iTunes Radio and Beats Music.
As reported yesterday, the unprecedented launch of “Songs of Innocence” cost Apple more than $100 million in marketing fees alone.