Of apples and songs

I'm amazed at how certain ads can catapult an artiste to fame. You don't need to slog it out in the music scene, counting pennies and the days to your next bar gig. You just need to get your music picked for an advert.

And then you're more famous than the bar you last gigged at, the one where the waitress was hitting on your drummer.

I'll focus on Apple ads, given the company's knack for effective advertising and their ads' widespread reach.


Caesar was a Swedish band that was relatively unknown outside their homeland. When their song, Jerk It Out was chosen to go with Apple Shuffle's ad in 2005, the band finally got the worldwide exposure they were looking for. Until now, the band's most famous track is still the song made famous by Apple's iconic dancing silhouette ad.



Australian band, Jet was introduced to the US through an Apple iPod ad which featured their hit single, Are You Gonna be My Girl (Vodafone also used the same song in their ad). Thanks to Apple, Are You Gonna Be My Girl was nominated for Best Rock Video, Best New Artist and Best Editing in a Video for 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.



Even when the company changed the concept for their iPod ads, the powerful influence of the ads never stopped.


Canadian singer-songwriter Feist was just another obscure name in the industry, playing from band to band, and then releasing LPs that only received attention from the genre's audience. When her 1234 (not to be confused with Plain White T's 1234) got selected for Apple's 3rd generation iPod Nano ad, 1234 instantly became a surprise hit, reaching No. 8 in the US on download sales alone - a remarkable but rare achievement for an indie musician.



Then last year, Apple's 4th gen iPod Nano advert did the same thing for a Brooklyn band, Chairlift. The band was initially a project between two of its original members to create background music for haunted houses (?!!!). Now, on their Myspace page, Bruises, the song used in the Apple advert, has logged 7.7 million plays. What's more, they are also nominated for MTV VMA 2009 Breakthrough Video Award.




So go get your song on an ad!!!

Steve Jobs!!! Here's my demo!!!!