They’ve got 22 Grammys and 140 million in record sales, not to mention their own U2 Way in New York City (the street, it has Read the full post.
Mar 5
2009
07:59 PM ET
U2 and the $3.99 album: Great marketing or financial folly?
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What’s to think about? Selling it for $3.99 is basically giving it away for free. Only a dope would go to a store and purchase this if they could get it for $3.99 online. Nobody wants the more expensive limited-edition set anyway. I hate all the bells and whistles groups put into “limited edition” packages – they just end up gathering dust and taking up too much space.
Amazon Rocks! I am hard pressed to buy anthing on itunes anymore. At the end of last year Amazon put its 50 best albums of 2008 on sale for 5.00. I got albums such as Lady gaga, She&Him and Flight of the Concordes. I think this is a way to say thank you to fans and make buying music easier in these hard economic times. It cost hardly anything for a digital download and thanks to amazon’s daily deal and there 5 for $5 weekends I too have bought more (digital) music this past year than ever before.
Here’s the thing: is it better for them to get some money while people download it for $4, or to get no money while people download it for free because they don’t want to pay the price of a CD?
I’m not the biggest U2 fan, but I have some of their music, and at $4 I’m at least inclined to take a look where I wouldn’t before. I think it’s a good move on their part.
Used to be a U2 fan but in recent years feel its all hype, at whatever price. Even Eno now admits he doesn’t like their newer output. I won’t pay for it at any cost this time around.
I assumed this had nothing to do with U2 and more to do with the ongoing price war between Apple and Amazon for the digital download dollar. I don’t remember EW commenting when Madonna’s new album appeared for $3.99 in 2008.
I think the U2 album is $9.99 on itunes, so the $3.99 price is probably subsidized by Amazon in an attempt to get market share from Apple. Amazon also sold the latest Killers and Coldplay albums for around $3.99-$4.99. I think U2 probably get paid the same price from Apple and Amazon.