AboutAGirl
oh, be nice
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2005
- Posts
- 2,693
- Reaction score
- 11
U2's classic material is still classic. It's their new material that doesn't have as big of a fanbase. I'm not slagging on U2 -- that's why I compared it to my all-time favorite artist, Neil Young. I'm just acknowledging the fact that every band comes to a point in their career where the fans are coming to the shows to hear the old songs and not the new songs. You can still be huge and influential, it's just that your new albums aren't going to make the impact they used to.
But I agree, I like this album a whole lot. It's just that, at this point in any band's career, their new albums cease to have mass appeal and they primarily just appeal to dedicated fans.
If U2 had released The Joshua Tree for free in 1987 that would have made more sense because that album was at the top of the world, they were contemporary pop stars. But to give away a new album today is a hard sell for most people because they're not contemporary pop stars right now. When you're giving out an album to everyone who owns an iPhone (a mass audience), it would have made logical sense to pick the material with the widest appeal.
Giving out a new album from a veteran act means giving a niche record to a mainstream audience. They should have either given out a classic U2 album or an album by a mainstream contemporary artist. There'd still be issues about how Apple did this, but at least a larger portion of the people getting the album would be happy to receive it, rather than annoyed at what they perceive as forced advertising.
If they were dead set on giving something to every single iPhone and iTunes account, the best idea would have been to give away something by The Beatles. That's by far the act with the widest appeal and that would have the least number of pissed off people.
But I agree, I like this album a whole lot. It's just that, at this point in any band's career, their new albums cease to have mass appeal and they primarily just appeal to dedicated fans.
If U2 had released The Joshua Tree for free in 1987 that would have made more sense because that album was at the top of the world, they were contemporary pop stars. But to give away a new album today is a hard sell for most people because they're not contemporary pop stars right now. When you're giving out an album to everyone who owns an iPhone (a mass audience), it would have made logical sense to pick the material with the widest appeal.
Giving out a new album from a veteran act means giving a niche record to a mainstream audience. They should have either given out a classic U2 album or an album by a mainstream contemporary artist. There'd still be issues about how Apple did this, but at least a larger portion of the people getting the album would be happy to receive it, rather than annoyed at what they perceive as forced advertising.
If they were dead set on giving something to every single iPhone and iTunes account, the best idea would have been to give away something by The Beatles. That's by far the act with the widest appeal and that would have the least number of pissed off people.
