Apple Reportedly Spent More Than $100M on U2's Free Album 'Songs of Innocence'
Music

U2's manager Guy Oseary doesn't confirm or deny the $100 million figure, but he says the band 'poured blood, sweat, tears into project.'

AceShowbiz - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. While 500 million iTunes users didn't have to pay at all to download U2's "Songs of Innocence", Apple did and the free album actually cost the iPhone maker a lot of money.

The New York Times has learned that the value of the arrangement between the company and the Irish rock band is more than $100 million. The site says that according to several people briefed on the deal, "to release U2's album free, Apple paid the band and Universal an unspecified fee as a blanket royalty and committed to a marketing campaign for the band worth up to $100 million."

U2's "Songs of Innocence" was released during the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch launching event in Cupertino, California on Tuesday, September 9. Apple's CEO Tim Cook said that the album was given away for free as a "gift from Apple to their customers," but U2's frontman Bono insisted they would still get paid.

"First you would have to pay for it, because we're not going in for the free music around here," the musician told Cook.

The band's manager Guy Oseary didn't confirm the $100 million figure when asked about the matter in a new interview with Billboard. However, he didn't deny it either. "U2 worked five years on this album, they poured blood, sweat, tears into project, and we were really confident with it. The goal was: how do we reach as many as possible?" he told the site.

"Songs of Innocence" will remain free on iTunes until it's officially released on October 14. Before then, the record won't be eligible for Billboard 200. With the 57th Grammy Awards' eligibility period closing on September 30, the album will be considered for the 58th Grammy Awards.

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