U2's free album 'Songs of Innocence' won't debut on Billboard chart for a month

Music insiders may have hoped that U2’s free album Sons of Innocence would provide the industry with a jolt, but Billboard isn’t going to recognize the release for over a month.

The magazine explained that Songs won’t show up on the chart until after Oct. 14, the day the album is made available to those who still like physical copies and on other digital stores. At the moment, the album is only available to iTunes users. You can also stream it on Beats Music, which is now owned by Apple.

“Sales” of the free albums won’t be tracked by Nielsen SoundScan, which has been tracking sales for Billboard for over two decades now. Back in June 2013, Billboard and Nielsen also didn’t could the 1 million free copies of Jay Z’s Magna Carta...Holy Grail that were made available to Samsung users before its official release.

Songs tracks could still make an impact on Billboard charts that include streams or radio plays before Oct. 13. The lead single, “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone),” could show up on charts like Hot Rock Songs or Alternative Songs.

RELATED: Top 10 U2 Songs

U2 has seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, including their last two. Songs is their first record since 2009’s No Line On The Horizon. It was made available to iTunes users on Tuesday following the Apple Live event. The group also performed the single for the audience.

image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com

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