U2-APPLE: FUN WITH NUMBERS

Whether you consider the U2-Apple initiative as a stunt or a brilliant cross-marketing initiative, you’ve gotta admit that it has dramatically increased the band’s visibility at a crucial moment while also making the masses acutely aware of the appearance of the iPhone 6. Here are some interesting stats:

Through last night’s edition of Monday Night Football, the commercial that employs the hook from "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)" has aired nationally 121 times since it debuted on the CBS prime-time game last Thursday. This according to ad-tracking site ispot.tv.

According to Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, "Just six days after its release on iTunes, a record-breaking 33 million people have already experienced" Songs of Innocence. In other words, the album has been accessed on iTunes, iCloud, iTunes Radio or Beats Music 33 million times since it magically appeared last Tuesday.

Apple said it received more than 4 million combined orders of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the first 24 hours on Sept. 12, surpassing the previous high of 2 million-plus iPhone 5 orders set in 2012. "We believe the iPhone 6/6 Plus pre-order numbers indicate demand for the redesigned iPhone is slightly better than high expectations," Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster wrote in a note to clients.

Somewhat less significantly, the U2 catalog—sale priced at $5.99 for standard releases and $7.99 for hits collections since last Tuesday—has been selling briskly, with total sales up to today believed to be north of 30k. That may not be "massive," as Rolling Stone put it recently, but it ain’t chopped liver—especially considering that U2 catalog titles during the previous week sold in the double digits, with only three in the low triple digits. The biggest post-Tuesday sellers are 2006’s 18-song U218 Singles and 1987’s beloved The Joshua Tree, which are running neck and neck, with the 1991 landmark Achtung Baby a solid #3. All of the above remain in the iTunes Top 50 as of Monday afternoon, as does 1983’s War and, more surprisingly, the $11.99 deluxe version of U218 Singles, which contains 10 additional tracks, nine of them live.

Oh, and one other thing. To remove Songs of Innocence, Apple instructs you to…
Go to http://itunes.com/soi-remove.
Click Remove Album to confirm you'd like to remove the album from your account.
Sign in with the Apple ID and password you use to buy from the iTunes Store.
You'll see a confirmation message that the album has been removed from your account.