A DECADE AGO: Remember When U2 Downloaded an Album on Your iPhone?

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JANUARY 11: The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr, Bono and Adam Clayton of U2 perform onstage during the 3rd annual Sean Penn & Friends HELP HAITI HOME Gala benefiting J/P HRO presented by Giorgio Armani at Montage Beverly Hills on January 11, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for J/P Haitian Relief Organization)

Ten years ago today, U2 tried to give fans something for free – and launched the biggest PR disaster of their career.

On Sept. 9th, 2014, U2 appeared at an Apple launch event alongside CEO Tim Cook. The band announced that they’d completed a new album, Songs Of Innocence, and that it would be available to every Apple user for free.

But that wasn’t all – at the moment the announcement was made, the album automatically downloaded onto all Apple devices – meaning people had Songs of Innocence whether they wanted it or not.

For whatever reason, the stunt backfired in a big way – many users were upset about the automatic download, and Apple was forced to give users the option to remove it.

Bono later apologized for the debacle: “I had this beautiful idea and we got carried away with ourselves.”