Apple and U2 are working on a secret new music format

U2
U2 and Apple are going to be pals, with or without you

Whether or not your were happy about Bono forcing his way into your iTunes library last week, the relationship between U2 and Tim Cook is only set to get deeper.

As an article in Time reveals, the pair have set out to work on a new digital music format that they believe will lure us all into buying singles and albums once again.

The idea, according to Bono himself, is to not only help the big stadium-level artists but also the smaller ones who struggle to make money from the industry.

TechRadar recently learned from a source that Apple may be looking to introduce hi-res studio master downloads on iTunes in the near future. There's a chance that this could be the secret project Bono is referring to, but it could also be something more drastic.

Can't stop the Beats

With Beats now owned by Apple, it's also possible we could see some sort of tie-in there too. But pulling people away from streaming services such as Spotify will be no easy task.

"Songwriters aren't touring people," said Bono on artists who currently struggle to make money. "Cole Porter wouldn't have sold T-shirts. Cole Porter wasn't coming to a stadium near you."

Bono isn't the only one to lash out at the current state of the industry - Thom Yorke has been a vocal critic of the Spotify model too.

"Make no mistake, new artists you discover on Spotify will not get paid," he said last year. "Meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it."

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.