UPDATE 9/15: After some backlash, Apple released a tool (at itunes.com/soi-remove) to more easily remove the album from your device.
Original Story:
On Tuesday, Apple announced that all iTunes users would receive a free digital copy of Songs of Innocence, U2's latest album. That seemed like a cool idea until it was discovered that Apple automatically placed Songs of Innocence into iTunes users' accounts. Naturally, this caused quite the stir; people weren't too keen on having content forced in their accounts without their consent.
You may not have noticed Songs of Innocence in your iTunes account, but it's there. If you have Automatic Downloads deactivated for music, Songs of Innocence resides in your purchased content area; if you have Automatic Downloads enabled for music, U2's album was pushed to your Mac, PC, or mobile Apple device.
If you like U2, enjoy! But if you're not a U2 fan, or you simply want to remove the music, your options are very limited. Songs of Innocence is tied to your iTunes account, and stored in the cloud, so you can't completely remove it. You can delete the local song files, but the album will still be on display because it's an Apple-gifted cloud purchase.
That said, you can hide Songs of Innocence so that you'll never have to be reminded of this forced invasion by Apple and U2. Just fire up iTunes on your Mac or PC and follow these simple instructions to make the album disappear across all your devices. You may need to sign out of your account and then sign back in for the new settings to stick.
Hide Songs of Innocence on a Mac
- Navigate to the iTunes Store
- Click the Purchase link
- You'll see a list of your bought music, including Songs of Innocence
- Click the X in the album art's upper-left corner
- Click Hide
Hide Songs of Innocence on a PC
- Navigate to the Music section in your iTunes Library
- Right-click the Songs of Innocence album
- Select Delete
- You'll see an option to Hide the album
- Confirm by clicking Hide Items
Remember, you can turn off automatic music downloads on a Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod, or iPad my taking a trip to a device's music settings
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