‘Thank you, we’re here every Tuesday night…’

Are U2 considering a residency stint at the O2 venue in London? This is what Rolling Stone and other publications are speculating.

It’s the rumour that won’t die, innit? We first heard of it (from the proverbial reliable sources) straight after the band’s last tour and it’s popped up again and again over the last couple of years. Now that bastion of investigative journalism, The Sun, claims McGuinness told them:

“It’s got great potential for U2 and because it’s undercover you can do a run of shows in the autumn.”

It also cuts down on gear, trucks and drivers, which the band might no longer be able afford due to thieving fans, downloaders, Steve Jobs, hippies, ISPs! *

Where there’s smoke there’s fire? True or not, the question remains: could you cope with a 20+ gig U2 residency in *your* town?

*) Why not blame bloggers, too?. I bet McG loves Andrew Keen.

U2, The Beatles and the iPod

SwitchBlog (Inspired by Apple’s Switch Campaign) mentions U2 in their post ‘Social Currency and the iPod‘ which talks about Apple’s strategy concerning the iPod, digital downloads, DRM and the ‘godlike genius’ of Steve Jobs:

“Rumors have been floated about a Madonna iPod, and others, but without a Beatles iPod as the precedent, it would have been premature. The U2 iPod was an exception. It was a foot-in-the-door for Apple and an opportunity for U2 to welcome the Beatles into the future of music distribution. U2 is the only band with a long enough history and enough current relevance to pull this off.”

Read the full story…
… and a follow up post: The U2 iPod and Its Relationship to the Beatles Deal.

U2 are the business

Excuse us while we have a laugh. U2 have made the list of The 10 Most Tech-Savvy Rock Stars in Business Week Online, featuring the musicians who ‘best harness technology, especially the Internet, to market themselves, their products, and their causes’.

In U2′s case, Business Week Online cite the band’s Apple alliance: what better way for a rock band to establish high-tech bona fides?

Since when does harnessing Steve Jobs make one tech-savvy? Surely that’s ‘business-savvy’ more than anything else? As for U2′s Internet presence… well, let’s not open that can of worms.

Bono also makes a solo appearance on the list, for launching RED and collaborating with companies such as Motorola on their special edition phone. Fair enough. But does he have the savvy to change its damn Crazy Frog ringtone all by himself?