Behind the Scenes of Apple’s $100 Million U2 Deal
Billboard spoke with U2’s new manager, Guy Oseary, about the band’s deal with Apple to distribute their latest album, “Songs of Innocence,” for free to iTunes users. The deal is rumored to have cost Apple up to $100 million. Oseary discusses Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine’s close relationship with U2, hints at future Apple collaborations, and talks about retailers’ annoyance at the deal.
More like a $5-$10 million payout, plus royalties on commercials (which will cost Apple tens of millions to run worldwide). Pretty good deal (and publicity) for a bunch of 50-somethings without an album in 5 years or a real hit song in a decade. And the PR claiming "up to $100 million" nicely elides the fact that U2 aren't getting anything like that, but it does look good for them to people who don't know better.
That $100 million figure also includes Apple's marketing of the album. Since it was heavily advertised during this Sunday's NFL games, I can how it could be that expensive.