Apple’s historic launch of U2’s new album Songs of Innocence to 500 million iTunes users hasn’t exactly been well-received. After less than 1 percent of iTunes users downloaded the freebie album on the first day, Apple shoved it down users’ throats by automatically downloading to devices withdisastrous results.
Now, after everyone’s had a weekend to cool off, Apple’s offering users an innovative solution in the form of a support site dedicated to teaching iTunes users how to pry U2’s spam album off their Mac or iPhone for good.
Here are the steps Apple recommends:
- Go to https://itunes.com/soi-remove.
- Click Remove Album to confirm you’d like to remove the album from your account.
- Sign in with the Apple ID and password you use to buy from the iTunes Store.
- You’ll see a confirmation message that the album has been removed from your account.
- If you downloaded the songs to iTunes on your Mac or PC or to the Music app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you’ll need to delete them manually.
We recommend just burning your iPhone entirely. It’s been contaminated and, hey, what better excuse to upgrade to an iPhone 6 Plus than “U2 destroyed my last phone”?
Once you’ve removed Songs of Innocence from your account you won’t be able to download it again as a previous purchase. So if you have a change of heart, you’ll have to wait until October 13, 2014, when you’ll be allowed to purchase it at full price.
Source: Apple
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
49 responses to “Apple launches site to help you remove U2’s free album forever”
I would hate to see the Author of this articles taste in music. U2 is a good band. Not the greatest but good. Probably hoping for Britney Spears or some other crap like that.
it’s not about U2 – it’s about Apple forcing music onto the devices.
That is not how it sounds. If it was a band I did not like I would just click delete.
No one forced you to download it. It’s your own fault if you have “auto download” turned on.
This doesn’t remove it from your account, just hides it, so as soon as you enable the “Show all music” option, so you can listen to stuff in your iCloud account without downloading it to your device, the damn album appears back there again! I WANT IT GONE
Damn dude, you really hate U2 don’t you.
good lord…what is the big deal with this? At the very least, the first answer back to Apple should be “Thank you for the free music.” I just don’t understand why this is as bad as some people are making it out to be. I was totally excited and I am not even as big a fan of U2 as a lot of other people. Seriously…what is the big deal. So what? Apple gave you free music. Apple gives you free apps. Blech…
Just because it’s free doesn’t mean we want it; how about I go and offer a free kick in the balls for u2. The majority of people just don’t want to be force fed spam.
You don’t have to download or listen to it. Get over it.
It’s not a site it’s a web page. You guys get worse
that permalink tho
Phuck that, I like the album. Im keeping it beotch!!
I like the new album and i know of a lot of others who like it… People need to stop being spoiled damn brats and GET OVER IT! I was not forced to download it my iPad and iPhone never downloaded it on it’s own I had to manually…
1% of 500,000,000 is 5 million people. In any other context, that would be a wild success.
I never comment on blogs. But this “article” persuaded me.
I don’t know what generation this writer represents, but your mother must be very proud of you.
Going ballistic about a U2 album “forced” on to your device. I love how this is being characterized by bloggers…”forced”. A free album. No ads. No gimmick. Just an album.
You guys a nothing but pissed. Who are you people?
Perhaps “we people” are musicians struggling in the new distribution models including Spotify, and iTunes. This is a huge blow to independent musicians everywhere by reducing the value of recorded music, and justifying it’s low value to the masses.
The difference between you and successful musicians can be summed up with one word
Talent
As in they have it and you apparently do not
Ken has a great point. The value of a single unit of music has been on a steady decline since the internet made sharing personal property effortless. Actually, the passing around of mixtapes might have been where it started. Either way, the complete devaluing and disregard for the people who make the music is definitely a problem that generations before us didn’t have. Opinions like your’s , Guy, further complicate matters; it’s hard to ascertain what it is you are trying to accomplish by saying stupid things. Personally, I like to get a new album and prop the jewel case against something and look at it it while I sit and listen to the album. It’s a bit ceremonial.
And that’s fine. You like a physical copy and are willing to pay the extra (as in all the songs whether or not you actually like them) for the privilege. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest. But to say music has been devalued because of the internet and digital downloads misses the bigger picture and to go off on a 1% rant (as he did several times) is ludicrous.
Value is subjective to what someone is willing to pay. No one is entitled to really much of anything, especially when it comes to entertainment. What Ken is missing in his rant about the the devaluation of music is the flip side to the argument. That creating music and putting it out to the masses has never been less expensive or easier to do than it is right now. Most of it is crap (IMO), but that’s a different argument.
The whole point of this article is so insane. That a free album released by arguably one of the most successful music acts as part of a promotion for a phone/watch/box of cereal/whatever has been around forever and the solution if you don’t like the album/plastic toy/whatever is to not listen to it. But to act or even truly believe that this is some kind of invasion (as some have really said) is the most asinine thing I’ve read in awhile. To somehow tie it into some kind of class struggle is reaching for the brass ring of insanity
Sorry Ken, but none of the writers on CoM are struggling musicians, they’re just entitled millennials with no taste in music.
Also, U2 got paid a nice sum by Apple for their “free” album, so either way you’re still wrong.
It’s really sad to hear everybody moan about it… Seriously world? Is this your biggest problem? That you get a free album you don’t want? I think there are bigger crisis in the world right now we should turn our attention to…
This is a representation of a bigger problem of distribution of wealth, and a display of power by Apple and mega-bands like U2. This is a huge blow to independent musicians everywhere by reducing the
value of recorded music, and justifying it’s low value to the masses, just as there are starving children living in slums outside the cities of the wealthy in India, Africa, and South America.
Seriuosly, bands give away their music all the time for promotion. You don’t like U2 for whatever reason, making the most of a close relationship with Apple. Trying to link this giveaway to reducing the value of music is idiotic. Piracy does that, not a free giveaway. FYI, U2 has done more than most groups for poverty across the world. Can you say that?
Hey Ken.
I was going to let your first post lie alone…. But… this one is pure idiocy.
Here is a new name for your band. The drama queens. Did you seriously just compare the free give-away of the U2 album to starving kids around the world. And the distribution of wealth?? Seriously??
Seriously re-evaluate your life.
Oh, and don’t bother trying to justify your nonsensical statement above. It will only serve to make you look more foolish.
Think of the children… My heavens!
What ken did is called an analogy. The concentration of wealth and success in the music business is exacerbated by situations like this.
Are you fa real? The album sits on my cloud account. It’s not on my device. Does anyone know what a cloud symbol looks like? Put your phone in airplane mode and you’ll see the album disappears! And so what if it downloaded. Delete that biotch and stop your belly aching already. When it gets to the point you start complaining about free stuff that you can easily delete, you know it’s time to remove the pickle out your arse.
Spot on Drew & another thing, it’s a good album, listen to it people, you might even like it.
OPINION = 100% • NEWS = 0% • PROMOTION = 0%
______________________________________________
It’s getting to the point I don’t want to read Cult of Mac any longer because of childish opinion being mixed with reporting actual news. Oh … and that every other post on the site is trying to sell me something. I have come to count on CoM less and less for actual factual reporting and increasingly more histrionics, than anything else. Maybe they should use a new warning system telling readers the percentage of news, opinion, and or promotion is contained in each article. I would imagine if an author always had something substantial to say, I might listen to their occasional opinions and consider their side of something. Not so much in this case — and on the whole — with CoM. Sad.
“It’s getting to the point I don’t want to read Cult of Mac any longer because of childish opinion being mixed with reporting actual news.”
Bing!!! Correct!! You win the prize of the day. The rubbish articles like this elicits comments like Ken’s above where the give-away of this record is symbolic of the unfair distribution of wealth throughout the world.
Bono is an ar5ehole, and I’m no longer keen on U2. Bit Cult Of Mac are coming across as though they’ve got a vendetta against Irish/British bands/music. Every day we get yet another poisoned pen about how millions of Yanks are pissed off about their free gift. Well, we see through it. Get a life. Move on. Report on something real, significant, and not made up by you load of bitter and twisted smalltime hacks. Go on, off you go…
Wow, I use to listen to U2 a long time ago, not so much anymore. But who cares if they put an album in your cloud collection. I can’t wait till the complainers get married, that adds a whole bunch of music to your collection that you can’t erase cuz it’ll piss off your wife
The detriment to this this push by Apple is that it only compounds issues facing musicians struggling in the new distribution models, including Spotify,
and iTunes. This is a huge blow to independent musicians everywhere by
reducing the value of recorded music, and justifying it’s low value to
the masses. Good album or not, this is a poor move with regard to support of the musician community as a whole.
How about musicians get off their asses and promote their work, like it’s been since the music industry began? Nobody owes you anything. If you want success, make it. Since when was it against the law to give something away? That’s like believing that giving away a car will destroy the car industry.
Would you like some cheese with that whine?
Post this however many times you want; it doesn’t make it any more than complete BS.
If anything screams “first world problems,” it would be this.
I may be wrong, but I think every iPhone may already be a bit contaminated by U2. I’m pretty sure the sillouete in the Artists icon on the Music app is Bono..
I just don’t understand some people. Apple give you something for nothing and this makes you angry? Had a look at the world lately? Some pretty horrid stuff going on out there. Just lighten up and be happy. Be angry at something worth being angry at.
+100
Wow, so much upset about a simple thing! If you’ve got the album and don’t want it:
1. Go to albums in iTunes
2. Find the U2 album
3. Right click on the album and select “Delete” from the dropdown menu. It will ask if you want to permanently send it to the trash.
That’s it. How difficult is this? How mind-numbingly dumb are all the complainers who are moaning that they got something they didn’t want? It’s a no-brainer. Sheesh! I’m not a huge U2 fan, but I’ll listen to the album a few times and then decide if I want to keep it or not.
I would understand the anger if it was Justin Bieber! AH! I can imagine! : )
should have been asked “would you like to dowload the album for free” not downloaded without consent. It’s a bigger issue. What else can they download? I guess anything they want. We probably even gave them permission when we signed up for an iTunes account.
You gave them permission to push apps music and books to your devices when you checked the settings on your device that gives them that permission. They gave you an album in iTunes just as if you would have bought it.
When you buy an album in iTunes it will only auto download to your device if you have that setting checked.
Let me be clear this is not the only way apple or any other company can access your device
If you use find my iPhone your location is uploaded to their server.
Or if you buy music they can push the music to your phone. If you use maps they need to get your gps info to let you know where you are on a map. If you use iCloud all of your contacts calendars and email are both pushed and pulled from devices.
The list goes on and on.
This is how connected devices work. If you have an android device the same thing is true about it also.
There is a trade off between security and convenience, you need to set up your phone with the trade offs you feel comfortable with.
My suggestion, if you don’t want apple or any other company to access your device in any way use airplane mode. I know that sounds snarky but it is seriously the only way to stop it.
Every “writer” on Cult of Mac is being ridiculous about this U2 album thing. We get it, you’re “too cool” to listen to U2. No one gives a shit. Go listen to Justin Bieber or whatever you like and stop patronizing CoM readers with your BS.
I hate everything that is free – people always complain about EVERYTHING!! get a life!
REALLY!!!!! Just swipe left to delete!!!!!
I know many think this was not a big deal.
For some though, the attempt at concealing the album proved harder than just click hide.
For a good number of people while they were able to hide it in iTunes, on their devices even with Show All Music off it would leave three to five songs on the device. (No, they were not downloaded).
For the unfortunate ones who were in this category it became more than a simple issue.
Think about the time they may have spent going to an Apple store, or having to call into Apple Support to finally have the remaining songs hidden.
Not the most elegant way they could have rolled this out.
bahahah “innovative solution” !What a load of c.
How do I manually delete it from my iPhone ? It’s not the music I’m sure they are a great band but I’m not a fan , and it is NOT ok for them to just ” get on my phone ” and add whatever they want . Get out of my shit . I’m switching to a different phone period this shit is ridiculous . It’s fine that they bought it good for them but god damn at least let people decide if THEY WANT the damn album on their own !!!