Free iTunes U2 album accessed by 33 million users, says Apple

New York: Apple Inc says 33 million iTunes account holders have accessed U2’s free album.

The company issued a statement Monday from Senior Vice President Eddy Cue with the first usage numbers for the surprise Songs of Freedom release by the company. Apple gave the album to 500 million iTunes account holders last week during the company’s iPhone 6 unveiling news conference.

Cue called the number record-breaking, but did not elaborate. The figure includes customers who downloaded the album from their iCloud account, streamed it or used iTunes’ radio player to hear it. Apple paid the Irish rock band for a five-week exclusive window during which the album is only available to its customers. “Songs of Innocence” will be released 14 October to the general public.

Despite the numbers not all iPhone users were happy that U2’s new album, Songs of Innocence, was automatically added to their iTunes music library, free of charge. In response, Apple has released a special tool that lets people remove the album from their collections. You can follow the steps to remove the album from here.

Associated Press