While U2’s publicity-grabbing album launch did generate a sizeable 868% spike in digital catalog sales in the United Kingdom -- with aggregate sales across the band’s 19 album strong back catalogue jumping to 6,744 units from 697 units the week prior to the Apple announcement -- British physical retailers largely missed out on the sales bonanza.

“If one of the justifications of this stunt is that it would drive sales of U2's catalog through the market as a whole, then so far at least it has been a dismal failure," commented ERA chairman Paul Quirk in a statement.

"This promotion is a failure on so many levels. It devalues music, it alienates the majority of people who don't use iTunes and it disappoints those who prefer to shop in physical stores since few shops had U2 stock available,” Quirk went on to say, adding: "Dumping an album in hundreds of millions of iTunes libraries whether people want it or not, reduces music to the level of a software update or a bug-fix or just plain spam."

Quirk continued: "Giving away music like this is as damaging to the value of music as piracy, and those who will suffer most are the artists of tomorrow. U2 have had their career, but if one of the biggest rock bands in the world are prepared to give away their new album for free, how can we really expect the public to spend £10 ($16) on an album by a newcomer?"