In conjunction with Apple’s big announcements this morning in regards to the new iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch, the popular rock band U2 played at the event in California and then released their new album on iTunes for the amazing low price of free. Yes, free. A whole album of new U2 songs for zero cost. Of course, the news crashed the iTunes servers almost immediately, but once they are back up and running, fans can download the new record, titled Songs of Innocence at no cost.
As reported by Variety , the offer is good through October 13. Apple and the band have teamed up for the unprecedented gift to fans. U2 lead singer Bono explained the decision in a statement.
“From the very beginning U2 have always wanted our music to reach as many people as possible, the clue is in our name I suppose—so today is kind of mind-blowing to us. The most personal album we’ve written could be shared with half a billion people… by hitting send. If only songwriting was that easy.
“It’s exciting and humbling to think that people who don’t know U2 or listen to rock music for that matter might check us out. Working with Apple is always a blast. They only want to do things that haven’t been done before—that’s a thrill to be part of.”
This is not the first time that U2 has given away music for free. Just last winter, during the Super Bowl, the band gave away a free track called “Invisible” as part of the Red Initiative to help bring awareness to the fight against cancer.
The new album is seemingly coming out the blue, especially after Bono explained in January of 2013 that the new album could take ten years to make, as highlighted in a previous story on The Inquisitr .
As of this writing, the iTunes servers are still down or working very intermittently, but patient fans will soon be rewarded with new music from one of the world’s biggest, most popular bands. There is no word on if U2 will tour to support the new album, the bands 13th, but for now, fans can enjoy new music for absolutely free, thanks to iTunes, Apple, and the band itself.
U2’s Songs of Innocence is available now, if you can get into the iTunes store to download it.
[Image courtesy of iPhonehacks.com ]