14 DAY TRIAL // A long, long time ago it was MTV that took bands from obscurity and delivered them to the promised land of fame. These days, it seems that the best way for an artist to make it big time is to get their song used in an iPod commercial.
The success that bands appearing in iPod commercials have seen is not a matter of luck. With plenty of ads and plenty of artists over the years, the pattern clearly point towards Apple as the next big way of making yourself known. Since 2001 the independent bands featured in the commercials have sold many records and made it onto Billboard charts, showing that Apple's promotion influence is great indeed.
The latest example is CSS, whose song is featured in the latest iPod touch commercial. After releasing its debut album in July 2006, CSS saw only meager sales, despite rave reviews and a small indie following. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album sold just 340 copies per week through October. After the iPod Touch commercial premiered on October 28, CSS sold over 2,000 records and climbed No. 15 in song downloads and No. 5 in ring tone sales at Apple's iTunes Store, in just two weeks. "This is one of the rare instances where we can point to a single event and say, 'This is for sure what's driving all of our record sales,'" said Tony Kiewel, CSS's agent at Sub Pop records. "The band is completely absent from this country and has been for ages. And the record is over a year old."
Although not directly Apple's concern, the success pawned by the ads is indicative of the influence the company now has, and of how different the music industry has become. The Cupertino company has established itself as a trendsetter, both with its products and its services, and will likely keep its lead, pulling everyone else along into the new age, despite the best efforts of record companies that are still desperately clinging to their outdated and failing model.