The Wizard of U2 speaks to U2.com about the band’s involvement with Apple’s iTunes and comments on the progress of U2’s next album.
24 thoughts on “The Great McGuinness Has Spoken”
Comments are closed.
The Wizard of U2 speaks to U2.com about the band’s involvement with Apple’s iTunes and comments on the progress of U2’s next album.
Comments are closed.
“I am just reminding everyone that we must learn from past mistakes and not release it before it is finished.” PLEASE tell me he’s not referring to Pop?!?!?…Just because it wasn’t a success critically and financially, doesn’t make it a mistake!!! Granted he didn’t come right out and say it but I think we all know what so-called “mistake” he’s talking about.
“I am just reminding everyone that we must learn from past mistakes and not release it before it is finished.” PLEASE tell me he’s not referring to Pop?!?!?…Just because it wasn’t a success critically and financially, doesn’t make it a mistake!!! Granted he didn’t come right out and say it but I think we all know what so-called “mistake” he’s talking about.
Great article. Hes dead on about the recording industry and technology. Coming from a self described “technophobe” I think its time the recording industry jumped into 2003.
Great article. Hes dead on about the recording industry and technology. Coming from a self described “technophobe” I think its time the recording industry jumped into 2003.
great article… and chris- i don’t think he meant pop was a mistake, i think he meant it was a mistake to release it before it was finished and rush it like they did. i don’t think any of the band see it as a mistake, as bono has said, it was no 1 in 26 countries and popmart was seen as innovative and breakthrough in many countries outside the us. it’s just because in the us it didn’t chart well and the tour didn’t do as well as previous tours that many people criticize and overlook it… me? i think it is a brilliant album, one of my favorites.
great article… and chris- i don’t think he meant pop was a mistake, i think he meant it was a mistake to release it before it was finished and rush it like they did. i don’t think any of the band see it as a mistake, as bono has said, it was no 1 in 26 countries and popmart was seen as innovative and breakthrough in many countries outside the us. it’s just because in the us it didn’t chart well and the tour didn’t do as well as previous tours that many people criticize and overlook it… me? i think it is a brilliant album, one of my favorites.
Good point ifalldown (nice name), and I especially agree with it being a brilliant album…Personally, I could never figure out why they had to go back into the studio and “finish” some songs to put onto the Best Of…I thought they were amazing just the way they were! And kovax is right, McGuinness is dead on…what’s the point in fighting all the “napsters” and “kazaas” when a comprimise (in this case, the iTunes store) is what the industry needs…Can’t wait for the Canadian PC version, LOL
Good point ifalldown (nice name), and I especially agree with it being a brilliant album…Personally, I could never figure out why they had to go back into the studio and “finish” some songs to put onto the Best Of…I thought they were amazing just the way they were! And kovax is right, McGuinness is dead on…what’s the point in fighting all the “napsters” and “kazaas” when a comprimise (in this case, the iTunes store) is what the industry needs…Can’t wait for the Canadian PC version, LOL
pop is the only album outside of achtung and the best of’s that i can listen to from start to finish without having a huge urge to skip traps…
although i havent really listened to their 80’s albums too much.. but i struggle trying to get through any of zooropa, and the second half of all that you can’t leave behind…
pop is the only album outside of achtung and the best of’s that i can listen to from start to finish without having a huge urge to skip traps…
although i havent really listened to their 80’s albums too much.. but i struggle trying to get through any of zooropa, and the second half of all that you can’t leave behind…
err traps=tracks
err traps=tracks
just for the record. it’s iTunes not I-Tunes.
just for the record. it’s iTunes not I-Tunes.
well then, for all this talk of tech: just someone tell me a) how to extract the audio tracks from the rattle’n’hum dvd – i’d do anything to have that version of exit in my headphones, and b) when is that monument to greatness otherwise known as zoot live from sydney EVER going to be done justice by a dvd release. biggles.
well then, for all this talk of tech: just someone tell me a) how to extract the audio tracks from the rattle’n’hum dvd – i’d do anything to have that version of exit in my headphones, and b) when is that monument to greatness otherwise known as zoot live from sydney EVER going to be done justice by a dvd release. biggles.
McG is absolutely right about the music business in this regard. And it’s actually even a little more obnoxious of a situation than McG details. The distribution companies not only “missed the boat” they purposely delayed the boat.
When I did my masters in music business back back in the mid-90s the Chairman Emeritus of our department (Irwin Steinberg) was the man who founded Mercury Records back in the 50s and was the first chairman of the board of PolyGram in the 70s — when Phillips Electronics started buying up music companies in the hopes that it could propel its own invention (the Compact Disc player and of course the CD itself), if it also was the marketer of the stuff that was played on the CDs/CD players. The technology for the download systems that kicked the music business in the ass in the late 1990s has been available since 1983. And actually a handful of visionaries in the industry invested millions of their own dollars in that first workable online music delivery system. A couple of the major distribution houses (like PolyGram, WEA, etc.) had signed on with them — and then at the last minute got cold feet and pulled out of the deal, causing the investors to lose millions (one of whom was my Professor).
The distribution companies freaked out about all the investment that they had in plant and delivery (i.e. the CD manufacturing facilities and the trucks to delivery the CDs to retail). So rather than get on board with what was going to be the future of the industry, they purposely decided instead to bottleneck the download delivery system until their plants/trucks had sufficiently depreciated to a level they deemed expendable.
The distribution houses’s intransigence ended up not only costing the investors their millions, but it also ended up dealing a huge huge blow to the industry itself (billions more than if they had just taken a faster hit on the plants/trucks) and they are still paying through the nose for their shortsightedness in thinking that they could singlehandedly roadblock technological progress as it applied to their industry. Dumb-asses.
ITNOL, Patty
McG is absolutely right about the music business in this regard. And it’s actually even a little more obnoxious of a situation than McG details. The distribution companies not only “missed the boat” they purposely delayed the boat.
When I did my masters in music business back back in the mid-90s the Chairman Emeritus of our department (Irwin Steinberg) was the man who founded Mercury Records back in the 50s and was the first chairman of the board of PolyGram in the 70s — when Phillips Electronics started buying up music companies in the hopes that it could propel its own invention (the Compact Disc player and of course the CD itself), if it also was the marketer of the stuff that was played on the CDs/CD players. The technology for the download systems that kicked the music business in the ass in the late 1990s has been available since 1983. And actually a handful of visionaries in the industry invested millions of their own dollars in that first workable online music delivery system. A couple of the major distribution houses (like PolyGram, WEA, etc.) had signed on with them — and then at the last minute got cold feet and pulled out of the deal, causing the investors to lose millions (one of whom was my Professor).
The distribution companies freaked out about all the investment that they had in plant and delivery (i.e. the CD manufacturing facilities and the trucks to delivery the CDs to retail). So rather than get on board with what was going to be the future of the industry, they purposely decided instead to bottleneck the download delivery system until their plants/trucks had sufficiently depreciated to a level they deemed expendable.
The distribution houses’s intransigence ended up not only costing the investors their millions, but it also ended up dealing a huge huge blow to the industry itself (billions more than if they had just taken a faster hit on the plants/trucks) and they are still paying through the nose for their shortsightedness in thinking that they could singlehandedly roadblock technological progress as it applied to their industry. Dumb-asses.
ITNOL, Patty
elmo- rattle ‘n hum mp3’s are all over the net. try kazaa. i have exit and most of the rattle ‘n hum in dvd mp3 format.
elmo- rattle ‘n hum mp3’s are all over the net. try kazaa. i have exit and most of the rattle ‘n hum in dvd mp3 format.
ah, thankyou mike. 🙂
ah, thankyou mike. 🙂
PC, I liked your point about how the technology is around way before it is marketed. One of the reasons you gave for that delay in sales, was Phillips need to make the maximum return off THEIR invention/investment. The most confusing things I find to be about ART/MUSIC is how to make an honest profit off of it. Personally, I think the kind of performance art rock bands are into should be part of a bigger picture…even if it is a car commercial, movie, t-shirt or rock show…in order to justify making your entire living off of it. Granted, if i wrote an original song (with the help of friends) I would want to be compensated for it. However, I wouldn’t feel justified in putting my song on a 12 track cd that sells for 16 dollars to cover marketing costs and everything else that goes along with getting it to the people. I would just go play it in public and ask my manager to make sure the right people know who, what and where I am so they can buy a 15 – 30 dollar ticket. At LEAST I would know they were getting what I wanted them to get – MY SONG the way I want it presented. The tragedy of POPMART was it being all MART and no POP. And then…like all great songs…if it’s accepted…I’d gladly let people start doing remakes of it or get it “for free” (which isn’t true when you count in the cost of hooking up to the internet on a good connection in order to download the thing!). There is no revolution in what I-tunes is doing. It’s the same old selling of a single that’s been going on for ages and is finally being translated to the INTERNET. Whoopty doo!
PC, I liked your point about how the technology is around way before it is marketed. One of the reasons you gave for that delay in sales, was Phillips need to make the maximum return off THEIR invention/investment. The most confusing things I find to be about ART/MUSIC is how to make an honest profit off of it. Personally, I think the kind of performance art rock bands are into should be part of a bigger picture…even if it is a car commercial, movie, t-shirt or rock show…in order to justify making your entire living off of it. Granted, if i wrote an original song (with the help of friends) I would want to be compensated for it. However, I wouldn’t feel justified in putting my song on a 12 track cd that sells for 16 dollars to cover marketing costs and everything else that goes along with getting it to the people. I would just go play it in public and ask my manager to make sure the right people know who, what and where I am so they can buy a 15 – 30 dollar ticket. At LEAST I would know they were getting what I wanted them to get – MY SONG the way I want it presented. The tragedy of POPMART was it being all MART and no POP. And then…like all great songs…if it’s accepted…I’d gladly let people start doing remakes of it or get it “for free” (which isn’t true when you count in the cost of hooking up to the internet on a good connection in order to download the thing!). There is no revolution in what I-tunes is doing. It’s the same old selling of a single that’s been going on for ages and is finally being translated to the INTERNET. Whoopty doo!