However has Bono continues to work on his health one thing is clear. The relevancy of U2 shall never be in question again.
U2 dominance in the digital download space and recurring listener space has proven that U2 can create new audience by simple smart marketing.
The Kantar report , which sampled 978 iOS users drawn from a larger panel of more than 2,500, 23 percent of them listened to U2 in January. In comparison, 11 percent listened to at least one song by Taylor Swift.
"Haven't got a clue!" Bono admits when asked about Kantar and its methodology. "I guess it's possible they could have randomly selected thousands of individuals with impeccable taste," he cracks, "who are not unduly influenced by the feeding frenzy that the blogosphere seems to become if there's a spot of blood in the water." The Edge had some comments in a RS interview that highlighted. That lots of music fans simply just download music or sign up for services with reading the fine print.
"Lots of people, including me, don't read the instructions. When you select automatic download on iOS, you're signing up to be pushed free content. It's not exactly small print, it's just a box you tick or don't. I understand how and why people got annoyed. But really, with all that's going on in the world. . .come on. Apple and U2 were genuine about this whole thing. Apple were being generous and we were trying to do something different to get through the noise. There's always a few teething problems when you're in new territory. . .One of which was that people thought we were giving the album away, that we'd suddenly become all about free music, when the opposite is true. We fervently believe all artists should be paid for their work. But we, like every musician, have to look at other models of getting paid. We were in the position where we can take a chance like this and weather the storm. There's some phrase about breaking eggs and omelets that's probably appropriate here. "
When asked what have you learned about the digital era, The Edge replied we're in the dawn of it. The thing it's easy to forget when you live in modern times is that they're modern for about another 30 seconds. . .more so than ever. In a few years we'll look back on this time like we look back on VCRs and rotary phones. When the radio arrived, everyone thought that was the end of sheet music. I think music has become devalued and disposable in the commercial world – but not to music lovers or the people who make it, and not all big tech either. Apple – and U2 – fight hard for artists to be paid.
In the future, technology has to be a better servant of music, and not its slave master. We can take advantage of the benefits of technology, and we do, but it's also beholden on those of us who have been so well rewarded by music to figure out a way to preserve the ability for artists to create and thrive. Fans have always shared U2 music either by cassettes or cd’s the next phase was not as challenging as one would think. Digital music is here to stay how people pay for it remains to be up for possible interpretation. U2 has always had bright young marketing people around them to think out of the box when it comes to promoting U2 music. The survey proves that nothing can be left to chance. Creative minds should be looking at new ways to reach their audience.
Bono said it sounds boring, but our drug of choice at the moment is songwriting, and trying to take U2's to the next level. What is clear is that U2 is not going into that discount record bin anytime soon and that the future is as bright as they want it to be.
