Rockers U2 have been left nursing bruised egos after less than half a per cent of music fans bothered to download their album for free.



The Mysterious Ways hitmakers made headlines around the world on Tuesday when they announced details of a new record, titled Songs of Innocence.



In a groundbreaking move, the Irish band teamed up with bosses of tech giant Apple to offer the album free to half a billion iTunes users around the world, but by the close of its first day of release, just 200,000 fans had downloaded it, according to Billboard.com.



It works out at a paltry .04 per cent of all iTunes customers who were offered the record.

However, a spokesperson for Universal Music Group denied the claim, telling Billboard that the number is "completely inaccurate".



Songs of Innocence is being offered for free on Apple's music download service in 112 countries around the world. It will go on sale in stores next month.