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SONGS OF INNOCENCE?

Published on 11/9/2014

I'm listening to the new U2 album, Songs of Innocence, which arrived via social media as a free download. Is this the future of marketing and digital delivery; the consumer will receive new creative product unsolicited and give it a try free of charge?

I guess the sponsors of U2, in this case Apple via iTunes, get the halo effect of being good guys arranging this "fee gift" direct to our e doorstep but what happens to the band who aren't so well known? Where do they get their money from if they can no longer sell product in competition with freebies and can't get sponsorship money because they are, as a consequence, simply not famous enough?

Will the same happen to movies and books in the future?

What happens to the new talent? I shall tell you, it simply will not get the chances it should deserve in this brave new world because Apple and U2 and others like them are unconsciously creating a marketing bottleneck too tight for any organisation not big and rich enough to create a little shelf space in our iTunes stores of the future.

Oh, and in the interest of fairness, the album is very good!

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