Propaganda Physical Copies Part 2

Original Story by Aaron J Sams (2026-03-06)

Another week and another surprise drop – I think it’s going to be an interesting year ahead from this band. U2 delivered Propaganda volume 3 issue 1 into independent record shops yesterday as part of the promotion for the “Days of Ash” EP. The magazines were distributed in store in USA, UK, and in several countries in Europe. Additionally a number of copies have been sent out to fans worldwide who subscribe to U2.com, with many of these currently still in shipping. We’ve seen a number of questions over the last few days in regards to the magazine, so below we’ll share a bit of what we know about the magazine.

Photo by Brad Hood: Front Cover of Propaganda Volume 3 Fanzine

The issue is the same as the version found on propaganda.u2.com – the content is identical to what is available for all via the site with two exceptions. Two QR codes are present, one on the front and back cover, both of which take you to https://u2.lnk.to/Zine?If_source=gr. And each copy has a unique number on the front cover. This limited physical copy was limited to 2500 copies, and we are told of that quantity 2000 copies were sent to the 142 stores that made it to the list on U2.com. The other 500 would include those sent out to subscribers. No, we don’t know how names were chosen to receive these. And no not all have been delivered yet so keep an eye out over the next few days. The magazine revived the Propaganda name, which hasn’t been published since 2002, and celebrates its 40th anniversary of its debut issue this year. Yesterday when we announced the physical magazine, we took a look at the longer history of the fan-loved magazine.

Photo by Brad Hood: Back Cover of Propaganda Volume 3 Fanzine

Not all of the copies sent out to subscribers have reached their destinations, some are still making their journey. Although we’ve seen copies arrive in the US, UK and start to arrive in Europe, most appear to still be in transit. In Canada, shipping notifications started going out two days ago, and copies should start arriving today. (And not everyone will get a notification, depending on how the item was shipped.) We’ve seen copies arrive in Australia and in Brazil as well, but suspect most copies are still in transit. The in store copies were announced early in the morning (Europe time) and they were in stores the same day for stores listed as having them, although a few got them later in the day than others. So although no stores may have carried the magazine in your area, some fans who are subscribed may yet get a surprise.

Photo by Brad Hood: Inside of Propaganda Volume 3 Fanzine

All copies of the magazine were given away. There was no cost, and you did not have to purchase these. There have been a few reports in Germany and the UK of stores asking for people to purchase another item in shop to get a copy, and one store in Ireland that appeared to reserve them for their regular customers and would not give out when requested. Probably some miscommunication happening, and many retailers were barely aware of what it was when the phone calls from fans started yesterday. But this appears to have been limited to a small number of stores, most stores gave the item away completely free. Overall very few fans reported any issues with the in-store experience, if there was a store nearby. (Or not so close nearby in some cases…a few people we’ve heard from drove a considerable distance for a copy. Fans really have some love for this magazine that hasn’t been around for a while.) Stores were asked to restrict these physical copies to in-person customers, and to not accept online or phone orders for the magazine.

Photo by Brad Hood: Inside of Propaganda Volume 3 Fanzine

Stores for the most part were very limited in copies of the magazine when they opened their doors. We reached out to a number of shops and information shared with us showed that most stores got between 5 to 10 copies. A few got slightly more. We did see one store that got 15. And a few chains that had multiple stores, got a few more than that, but once spread among stores, came out to the same average we saw for others. This thing was limited, and most stores went through their free copies quickly. A few do still have copies today but I’m betting there won’t be many left after the weekend.

The unique number on each issue makes it easy to track what stores they went out to, and which copies were sent to subscribers. It probably limited the number of copies that ended up outside of the hands of fans, which is nice to see. And copies on eBay and the like have been limited only a handful have popped up.

Photo by Brad Hood: The newest issue of Propaganda along with the last issue from 2002

As with most events like this, there was a high demand, and not everyone was able to easily find a copy. There’s still some hope yet as copies are still arriving by mail. Our team here did not get any copies via mail (not yet anyway) and only one was able to find a copy in store. We had a lot of people asking to help get a copy, and unfortunately it just wasn’t a possibility this time out. Apologize for that. We hope the information we were able to provide did help some of you find your way to a copy. (It is Brad’s photos that accompany this article, thank you Brad.)

It’s hard to see non-subscribers getting copies of Propaganda as it was always something special if you were a member of the fan club in days gone by. Nice to see some attempt was made to include subscribers at all, but the number of copies were never going to go far enough, even if the whole allotment went to subscribers. Would have been nice though if maybe next time out subscribers could be given a heads up in advance of the general public being told? Give a bit of a head start for those who could get to a store?

Also notifications would be nice that something had been shipped so people aren’t left wondering for days if they have a copy or not. I’ve seen people go through great lengths to get a copy, only to find out one is in the mailbox when they get back from the hunt through stores. If an email went out after it was announced yesterday saying, “rest easy a copy is on the way” it may have left a few additional copies in store for fans to find.

Although not related to Propaganda, we do have a short update on “Days of Ash” itself. The song “Yours Eternally” has been pushed for promotional use at various video outlets this week. The video is a little different that was sent out, with the intro text missing, and starting directly in with the song. The version of the song used is the EP version, and not the version used on YouTube where you can hear sound effects from what is being shown on screen over the music. The promotion of this EP continues to result in strong radio airplay in all markets. United Kingdom has overtaken Germany in third place for worldwide airplay, and “Song of the Future” is in high rotation at BBC Radio 2, Virgin Radio and on Absolute Radio 20s among others. That song has really taken off on radio and continues to do well. Stations continue to add the track, and there’s been more airplay each day this week than there has been in previous weeks, so the EP continues to do well via radio.

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