During this year’s special event, Apple’s Tim Cook and U2 came on-stage to release their new album to all the iTunes customer as a giveaway. While the company unveiled its next generation iPhone and also the most expected Apple Watch. Right after the major announcements, the hugely popular U2 played at the event, and the song was from their upcoming album, Songs of Innocence.
Interestingly, Apple gave away a free copy of the band’s new album to every single iTunes Account owner with a valid credit card. But then, ever wondered how much the company paid to get this giveaway done? A report by New York Times claims that Apple paid about $100 million to get the U2’s new album to every single iTunes user across the globe.
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, according to several people briefed on the deal. That marketing will include a global television campaign, the first piece of which was a commercial that was shown during the event.
That’s a lot of money. Now, dear Apple, please do something to fix the backfire that’s happening your Apple Watch.