Orange Goblin singer Ben Ward has blasted U2 for releasing their album Songs Of Innocence free via Apple – calling the stunt a “violation of freedom.”
Over 500million iTunes users had the tracks added to their account free of charge last week – whether they wanted them or not. As a result of negative reaction, the computer giant set up an online tool for deleting the files.
Ward tells Bravewords: “From what I’ve read, it’s gone against them. A lot of people refuse to listen to it and don’t want anything more to do with the band. It just stinks of typical Bono pretentiousness – I don’t like it. You wake up one morning, open your iTunes, and it’s there. I know a lot of people can’t believe it. There’s some people whose devices are bordering on the brink of capacity memory.”
He believes users should have been given the choice of whether to download. “Don’t just stick it in there and force it upon people,” he says, adding: “I think U2 in general are a violation of people’s rights. That’s just my personal taste.”
Orange Goblin will release eighth album Back From The Abyss on October 6 via Candleight Records. Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson this week also criticised U2’s stunt, which is believed to have cost Apple $100m.