Am I the only person in the world who went "ooh, cute idea, never seen that done before." Then listened to it and thought "meh, not bad.I'll keep it around for a change now and then."
Seriously... it's just a freebie. And if Apple want to give me free albums, paid for out of the huge amount of money I've spent with them over the years, then fine. Let's look on the bright side though - it could have been Coldplay. Or Take That.
No. Absolutely not. They could have set the price to zero in iTunes and allowed people the choice. Those that wanted it could take it, those that rather have an airport cavity search by someone with really big hands followed be y detailed IRS audit than listen to U2 could have ignored it.
By making this happen automatically they removed choice, and they removed control and U2 as well as Apple deserve a serious amount of stick for that. It still is my equipment, and *I* determine what data lives on that, not a 3rd party. Not to mention that I also intensely dislike people so keen on self promotion, but that's just my personal opinion.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
