Noel Gallagher isn’t a fan of giving away his music for free and he doesn’t think U2 should be giving away their material for free either.
Noel is just the latest in a long line musicians, industry experts and music critics that have slated U2, after they released their new album for nothing on iTunes.
The venture offered up to 500 million Apple subscribers a chance to get their hands Songs Of Innocence as a free download.
Last year, Noel was quick to point out to Radio 4 that: “For the record, no-one’s getting anything out of me for free.”
Gallagher told Q magazine nobody actually talked about the music on the album, they just gave out about the way it was delivered.
Noel said: “No one has actually said the U2 album is a shit record or a great record. All they’ve talked about is the delivery. I think it’s one of their better albums, and ‘Every Breaking Wave’ – what a tune.”
“But the way it was delivered is not something I’d ever do. For me, albums are all about the anticipation. I don’t want to live in a world where, ‘Bang. There it is. Done.’ Me and Bono have talked about this endlessly and agreed to disagree.”
“I don’t agree with free music. I’d be quite happy to put an extra pound on my new album. U2 can turn around now and say that 750m people, or whatever it is, have their new album on their phone. But I would rather 750 people had my album in their hearts. To me, that’s fundamentally more important.”
The Mancunian singer slagged off Coldplay, claiming that when the band release their upcoming album, Chris Martin will have to hand-deliver it to fans. The jibe was a reference to U2′s LP giveaway with Apple.
The Black Keys, Iggy Pop and Pink Floyd have all criticised the Irish lads for the Songs Of Innocence giveaway.
Sharon Osbourne tweeted, “Jimmy Iovine, iTunes, U2, you’re a bunch of megalomaniacs. F**K YOU!” Tyler the Creator likened the giveaway to herpes and Sinead O’Connor described U2 as terrorists.
One of the very few artists to defend the Irish lads was the former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and Kodaline.
