Bono thinks U2 “went too far” when their album was automatically downloaded onto over 500 million people’s iTunes accounts.
The rock band faced backlash in 2015 when Songs of Innocence was released for free on Apple’s platform, which meant users across the world woke up to find the LP already in their libraries, whether they wanted it there or not.
Speaking to The New York Times newspaper, Bono said: “I went too far on that one.”
He admitted that U2’s old manager Paul McGuinness had “pretty much the same” opinion on the stunt as late Apple founder Tim Cook.
The With or Without You hitmaker recalled: “He said pretty much the same thing that [Apple founder] Tim Cook said when I pitched him the idea, which is:
“You spent your whole life getting people to pay for music. Why would you want to give something away for free?”
However, Bono felt like the band were “experimenting” with the approach.
He added: “I mean, we were experimenting. We wanted to see if we could get Apple or another company to pay for our music and then they distribute it.
“And look, it’s going to take some experimentation to fix the music [business]. It’s astonishing how little other musicians are paid and it’s frightening. But yeah, that was all on me.”
Bassist The Edge defended the decision, insisting that the band has to “take risks”.
He said: “We have to. So you fail, you fall on your face at times. That’s part of the gig.”
Back in 2015, producer Flood was asked if the stunt was a mistake, but he saw a positive to the situation.
He told Gigwise: “I think what it did was raise whether music is valued in society right now, and I think that’s something that still hasn’t been answered correctly.
“It brought about the question of ‘What are peoples’ listening tastes?’
“And maybe the biggest question it raised was ‘Are people allowed to have choice or is choice actually being eliminated?’”
Meanwhile, Bono has compared the situation to delivering an unwanted “bottle of milk” to houses across the globe.
Back in 2022, he told The Guardian: “What was the worst that could happen? It would be like junk mail, wouldn’t it? Like taking our bottle of milk and leaving it on the doorstep of every house in the neighbourhood.
“Not. Quite. True… we didn’t just put our bottle of milk at the door but in every fridge in every house in town.
“In some cases we poured it on to the good people’s cornflakes. And some people like to pour their own milk. And others are lactose intolerant.”