U2 and Apple collaborate on non-piratable 'interactive format for music'

Bono says that that the band have been working on new technology that will revolutionise the way in which we consume albums.

U2 and Apple are apparently collaborating on a new, “interactive format for music”. Due to launch in “about 18 months”, Bono spoke to Time about a new tech scheme which “can’t be pirated” and will reimagine the role of album artwork.


“I think it’s going to get very exciting for the music business,” Bono said as part of Time’s 29 September cover story. According to journalist Catherine Mayer, the singer foresees that this new technology “will prove so irresistibly exciting to music fans that it will tempt them again into buying music - whole albums as well as individual tracks”. By evading piracy, the format’s creators hope it isn’t just a boon to massive acts like U2, but also to performers less likely to sell out an arena or a lorry full of merch. “Songwriters aren’t touring people,” Bono explained. “Cole Porter wouldn’t have sold T-shirts. Cole Porter wasn’t coming to a stadium near you.”


Although initial reports compared the project to Neil Young’s Pono, or to Apple’s early DRM-restricted FairPlay files, Billboard reports that this is a bit of a misunderstanding. “It’s not a new format, but rather a new way to package and present an album,” said an unnamed source “with knowledge of the situation”. “This is focused on creative advances, versus shifts in technology.”


Ultimately, U2’s venture may be much more comparable to iTunes LP, which Apple premiered in 2009. That technology lets artists bundle visuals, interviews, and bonus content with digital album purchases. Compare this to Bono’s description of their new undertaking: “[This] will bring back album artwork in the most powerful way,” he said, “where you can play with the lyrics and get behind the songs when you’re sitting on the subway with your iPad or on these big flat screens. You can see photography like you’ve never seen it before.”


Given the timeline, Apple’s new music concept is unlikely to apply to U2’s Songs of Innocence, nor sway the users who are desperate to get the band’s free album off their computers. But the Irish rockers’ follow-up, dubbed Songs of Experience, will probably serve as the technology’s debut. According to a message on U2’s website, that record will “be ready soon enough”.



Guardian.com