U2 and Apple Developing New Digital Music Format

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Sep 18, 2014

U2 have taken a beating over the last week after the iTunes-invading debacle behind their Songs of Innocence, but Bono says the group's partnership with the Apple brand is still as strong as ever. An interview with Time had the vocalist explaining that, together, they're developing a new technology to package "music that can't be pirated."

Bono noted that the currently under-wraps project is potentially "18 months away" from an official launch, but hinted that new tech will be an "audiovisual interactive format for music that can't be pirated." Additionally, the format apparently aims to reinvigorate album artwork in a digital platform, "in the most powerful way, 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."

He added, "You can see photography like you've never seen it before."

According to the singer, another goal of the forthcoming project is to assist the artists unable to recoup finances from massive tours, the same way the U2 has been able to in the past. "Songwriters aren't touring people," Bono explained to Time. "Cole Porter wouldn't have sold T-shirts. Cole Porter wasn't coming to a stadium near you."

It's also possible that the launch will coincide with a sister set to Songs of Innocence, titled Songs of Experience.

While U2 gifted their Songs of Innocence for free last Tuesday (September 9) through iTunes, many were critical of how the album just popped up in people's music libraries and in the cloud. After protests over social media, Apple launched a specific tool to remove the digital release. Apple claims, however, that the album has been accessed 38 million time, whether by stream or download.

Songs of Innocence remains free through iTunes until October 13, at which point it goes up for sale.

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