Will U2 Manager's Next Rant Blame Bono For Leaked U2 Tracks?

from the blame-game-come-uppance dept

In the past year or so, U2's manager, Paul McGuinness has lashed out at pretty much everyone, other than those in the music industry, for the evils of file sharing. His main target was ISPs, but also device manufacturers, search engines, social networks and many, many others. It wasn't long after this that U2 lead singer Bono more or less agreed with his manager -- though using more diplomatic language. However, as a few folks are joyfully noting, it appears that the only one to blame for the leak of U2's most recent tracks may in fact be Bono himself. Apparently, someone was passing by Bono's beach villa in the south of France and heard the stereo playing incredibly loudly with new U2 tracks, so he recorded them and put them up on YouTube.

To be honest, this story has a lot of questionable elements to it, and little to back it up. So it could be entirely false. Even if it's true, it's difficult to see how the quality could be even halfway decent. Either way, though, it does show how silly it is to blame others. Instead, why not look to examples like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails who have shown that when you control the leak, it can work to your advantage in a rather massive way?
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Filed Under: bono, leaks, paul mcguinness, u2


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  1. icon
    jeroenw (profile), 18 Aug 2008 @ 4:26am

    funny since there

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    jeroenw (profile), 18 Aug 2008 @ 4:28am

    funny since there's a product red ipod

    And I do seem to recall that Bono was involved in that whole product red thing.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2008 @ 5:05am

    (red)acted

    Just because you're a criminal doesn't mean you can't help save the world.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    adrian, 18 Aug 2008 @ 5:30am

    Viral campaign?

    I'd say yes. Enough said.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    wasnt me!, 18 Aug 2008 @ 5:42am

    sounds like U2 realize best marketing would be the "fans" actually liking there music but they don't care to admit it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 18 Aug 2008 @ 6:49am

    Actual leak date

    These songs were leaked years ago with the release of their Achtung Baby album. At least the songs all sound the same.=P

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2008 @ 8:01am

    bono is the cunt of humanity. seriously, this guy is about as douchy as douche-bags get.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    simspace, 18 Aug 2008 @ 8:03am

    McGuinness - stop whining...

    ...that's some of the best marketing for an upcoming release. It builds anticipation.

    What? I'm not going to buy the album because I love the cell-phone quality audio with horns honking in the background? Gimme a break!

    If nothing else it will get true U2 fans pumped. I know I am!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    IanK, 18 Aug 2008 @ 8:10am

    The conclusion you try to make in this article is weak. I hate U2 as much as anybody who doesn't hate music, but to say that Bono himself was to blame for some leaked U2 tracks because he played music in his home is odd. The guy may be a douche-bag who wears weak, high-transmittance purple sunglasses both indoors and outdoors, but surely not even TechDirt can logically go from:

    "Bono played music in his own house" --> "Bono is to blame, and he's silly for blaming others for piracy" --> "Bono could learn from Radiohead and NIN".

    That's weak.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2008 @ 8:55am

    I agree; Bono is a waste of life and an insult to music as a whole. However, this is quite a stretch to suggest that he is responsible for the leak because some random guy recorded them from outside the property. I was really expecting to read that he irresponsible left a copy of the CD somewhere, or somehow accidently shared it in his kazaa porn directory.

    This is quite a leap.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Aug 2008 @ 9:11am

    Re:

    Irresponsibly playing his music loud enough to be recorded from off his property is more of a leap than irresponsibly leaving a CD laying around?

    I was hoping to see something about how Bono uploaded them to a torrent site. I think saying Bono is to blame because he had his stereo up too loud is fair. If he's so concerned with his music not escaping you'd think he'd be more careful with unreleased songs.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. icon
    Mike (profile), 18 Aug 2008 @ 9:19am

    Re:

    However, this is quite a stretch to suggest that he is responsible for the leak because some random guy recorded them from outside the property.

    Yes, that's why I said it seemed implausible in the post itself.

    But the *point* is that leaks can come from all sorts of unexpected places -- and it's better to turn any "leaks" into your benefit rather than blaming others. That point stands.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Fushta, 18 Aug 2008 @ 12:03pm

    Following Radiohead & NIN

    If anyone should follow Radiohead & NIN with their strategies, it should be U2. They probably have one of the biggest fan bases worldwide. They would kill with a "name your own price" or "pay for extras" strategy.

    They should fire their manager for holding them back.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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