4. Wild Card

 The Fever Dream That is U2

September 9, 2014 marks an important day in pop culture history. If those dates mean nothing to you, I will remind you of the notorious events that took place. CEO of Apple Tim Cook did everyone a huge favor by announcing the release of U2’s newest album Songs of Innocence. The album was financed by the tech company and because of that, it was instantly downloaded to every iTunes customer for free. Over half a billion people had U2’s Songs of Innocence downloaded to the purchased section of their music library without permission. U2 frontman Bono stated that the intention of the release was to get “as many people as possible because that’s what our band is all about.” 

I remember so distinctly wondering how this band got onto my iPod Touch. But because I was so young, I never did get an explanation for this anomaly. It wasn’t until last year, when I met my friend, Leanna, that I was reminded of my curiosity about the situation. When she asked me if I remembered the historic event, I gasped because up until that point I was the only person I knew who remembered it. 

For anyone who doesn’t know, U2 is an Irish rock band from Dublin. The band was formed in 1976 and consists of 4 members: Bono (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), The Edge (lead guitar/keyboards/backing vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums/percussion). It wasn’t until about 10 years later that the band picked up fame. The singles from their sophomore album, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Pride (In the Name of Love), endorsed that their band is socially and politically conscious. Their 5th studio album, The Joshua Tree (1987) is what put the guys on the map. This album contains their only number-one singles in the US, which were “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

 

U2 has won 22 Grammys, which is more than any other band. In 2005, in their first year of eligibility, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stones listed them on their Greatest Artists of All Time list at 22. The nearly half a century-year-old band has worked with numerous human rights and social justice causes. Some of these organizations include Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA, Product Red, War Child, and Music Rising. 

Circling back to the release of Songs of Innocence, theoretically, it is a terrific idea. Exposing millions upon millions of people to a band through online streaming is arguably more effective for exposure than having them perform at a large venue or with more well-known artists. Which is how most artists at the time gained popularity. In 2005, the biggest music festival of the time, Woodstock, was still capped at about 400,000 people. Reaching millions of people simultaneously was unheard of. The album earned 26 million complete downloads, and over 81 million Apple users listened to at least one song on the album. Before the release, only 14 million customers had purchased music from U2 since 2003.

In a statement to Billboard from U2, they said “Apple is a tech company fighting to get musicians paid. The idea that they wanted to make a gift to the very people that actually purchase music is both beautiful and poetic, and for that, we are very grateful.” The album was made available in 119 countries around the world. Lead guitarist, The Edge told TIME, that the album was “actually incredibly subversive. It’s really punk rock, it’s really disruptive.” Which is how a lot of people saw it at the time. 

The Washington Post stated that it was “rock-and-roll as dystopian junk mail.” They continued to say that by forcing this album onto millions of people, U2 was implying that “Our music is technically worthless and everyone in the world should hear it.” The article is a very interesting take on how U2 sees its audience. Musicians such as the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason agreed that releasing music for free devalued the music, even though Apple paid a large sum to U2 and Universal Music Group. 

The TIME article mentioned above takes the same position as The Washington Post. The article lightly mocks the band members ‘savior complex’ and states, “The members of U2 have always been preoccupied with saving things, starting with themselves.” 

The most recent U2 album, Songs of Experience, was released in 2017. That marked the band's fourteenth studio album. The band members have also done a bunch of outside work. Recently they were featured in the motion picture film Sing 2 (2021), with the song “Your Song Saved My Life.” Not long ago, The Edge announced that the band is currently working on a new album that will be the sequel to their last released album. 

U2 was this weird fever dream that I never thought I would see coming back into my life. But alas I accidentally became obsessed with a band, Inhaler, whose lead singer is the son of Bono himself. There will one day be a time when people aren’t haunted by “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).”