U2 manager hints at new album format in development at Apple

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Photo: Roberto Baldwin/ The Next Web
Photo: Roberto Baldwin/ The Next Web

U2’s partnership with Apple created the biggest album release ever this week with over 500 million iTunes customers receiving Song of Innocence for free, with just one bromantic touching of fingers, but according to U2’s manager, Guy Oseary, the band has even more plans in development with Apple.

Giving away U2’s album for free also proved how worthless the album format is nowadays thanks to iTunes indomitable ability to sell single MP3 files faster than McDonald’s can spit out beef patties, but in an interview with Billboard, Oseary hinted that Apple and U2 are working on a new formats to consume music too.

“We’re working on other things as well with Apple that have to do with how music is heard and innovation, with [iTunes VP of content] Robert Kondrk leading that charge. There’s a lot of things still to come that are really interesting. The band really wants people to engage with albums, they want them to support the art form of artwork and lyrics and video content and just get into their music in a much different way than an MP3 file. This is a long relationship.”

Previous rumors have claimed Apple’s working to add high-def audio support to iOS 8, but it sounds like Bono and Apple are dreaming of a completely new and interactive way to explore lyrics and artwork content while listening to an album.

U2’s album and the lead single “The Miracle of (Joey Ramone)” are major pieces of Apple’s upcoming marketing campaign estimated to be worth $100 million. New Apple hire Jimmy Iovine likely played a critical role in inking the deal with U2, though specifics on how much the band made off the exclusive release have been kept underwraps.

Regarding Apple executive Jimmy Iovine and his relation to U2, Oseary said he’s still a big part of the U2 family and very supportive:

“Jimmy is part of whatever this band does, even in their personal lives. It’s a family. We look to Jimmy for guidance and support no matter what we end up doing, whether its this project or talking about the next single, or whether we’re talking about doing other things down the road. Talk about family, trips, things that we wanted to to do in our personal lives — we’re really connected, we’re really supportive.

 

Source: Billboard

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