Entertainment Retailers Association suggests that U2's deal with iTunes devalues music and that the move has proved to be a "dismal failure".
Paul Quirk, chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), says that the negative reaction to the release of 'Songs of Innocence' as a free iTunes download "vindicates our view that giving away hundreds of millions of albums simply devalues music and runs the risk of alienating the 60% of the population who are not customers of iTunes."
Quirk cited the fact that the move hasn't been successful up to this point, adding that just 60 physical copies of U2's back catalogue have been sold in the United Kingdom in the week since the release of 'Songs of Innocence'.
"If one of the justifications of this stunt is that it would drive sales of U2's catalogue through the market as a whole, then so far at least is has been a dismal failure."
He added: "This promotion is a failure on so many levels. It devalues music, it alienates the majority of people who don't use iTunes and it disappoints those who prefer to shop in physical stores since few shops had U2 stock available. Giving away music like this is as damaging to the value of music as piracy, and those who will suffer most are the artists of tomorrow. U2 have had their career, but if one of the biggest rock bands in the world are prepared to give their new album away for free, how can we really expect the public to spend £10 on an album by a newcomer."
U2's decision to gift 'Songs of Innocence' to 500 million iTunes users has come under massive scrutiny in recent days, fueled by the album's poor reviews and a debate about whether music fans should feel violated by the involuntary download of music they didn't ask for.
To combat the negative publicity Apple released a tool to allow users to delete the album in one click.
A blog called Who Is U2? has gained steam in recent days too, showing tweets from disillusioned iTunes users who have no idea who the band are.
(via NME)
