Apple's U2 album giveaway 'cost $100m'

"Lucky you. You may have downloaded that U2 album for free, but it cost Apple a lot of cash.
Right around $100 million, to be exact, according to multiple sources including The New York Times.
The band ‘s 13th album, Songs of Innocence, was available without charge to any and all iTunes subscribers — right around 500 million people –in celebration of Tuesday’s huge Apple event in Cupertino, Calif. (The one where they unveiled to the world “the best phones ever made.”)
But it wasn’t that easy to get one of the biggest rock bands in history to give out a freebie. Apple, according to The Times, struck a $100 million deal with the band and its label, Universal, that included an undisclosed fee and a marketing campaign."

Source:  Entertainment Weekly, 12th September 2014