For the first time in the music industry, the rock giants U2 are making their latest album “Song of Innocence” free of charge to anyone who has an iTunes account. The band’s decision has become a bit controversial a month prior to the official release on CDs and vinyl records.

The popular Irish-based rock band announced that they will be launching their new album in time with the release of Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus. A happening that has gotten the interests of millions of people worldwide.

It is expected that half a billion iTunes members will be downloading “Songs of Innocence” the moment it becomes available to the public. The band’s frontman, Bono, has been overwhelmed by the idea and said in amazement, “Over 500 million people… that’s a billion ears,” according to the newspaper UT San Diego.

In the meantime, it hasn’t been confirmed yet if Apple is going to cut the free distribution at 500 million copies or if that's the current number of active iTunes. Either ways, the release of U2’s “Songs of Innocence” is already being called as one of the biggest album release of all time, or, at least, the biggest free album release in history.

“Songs of Innocence” is the band's 13th studio album and it's described as being an autobiographical record. It features collaborations with Ryan Tedder, Lykke Li, Danger Mouse and Paul Epworth. It is thought out to be a representation of the band's varying styles aned influences over the decades.

According to thestar.com, it is an entirely new album in the mould of synth-slickened “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight” or the strong “This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now” — both of which strip away years of accumulated bombast and enable U2 to sound like a real, vibrant band in the truest sense for the first time in years — or the soulfully undulating closer “The Troubles” (which ropes Lykke Li in for a sticky chorus faintly borrowed from Duran Duran’s “Come Undone”) could have been revelatory.