Here's What Nine Inch Nails' Frontman Thinks Went Wrong With U2's Album Release
Now Reznor is speaking out about the album release, which angered many who found themselves unable to delete it, in an interview with Billboard's Joe Levy.
Reznor said the album release would have been receieved very differently if users had been given the option of downloading "Songs of Innocence" rather than finding it in their libraries:
I think the misstep was the wording: If it would've been, "Here it is, if you want it, come grab it..." I am assuming the momentum of that situation led to the oversight in not thinking that people might feel intruded upon.
Reznor was with Bono right after Cook unleashed the album on iTunes customers worldwide:
As an artist, when I make a piece of music, I'd like you to know it's out there. I don't want to force it down your throat, but I would like you to know that if you'd like to, you might brush against it -- it exists somewhere. So I can see the incentive behind what they wanted to do. I was with Bono that day. I was at the Apple event and we were hanging out after they did it. There's an immense sense of pride toward the album he just spent several years making. He was very proud of what he did.
Bono's pride notwithstanding, Apple had to create a webpage to show users how to delete the album.
That might not have bothered Bono, though. Apple reportedly paid U2 $100 million to distribute "Songs of Innocence."