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Forget MTV - Apple's iPod ads are the new music-star makers

sfgate.com — Nick Haley, 18, took just 30 minutes to pluck the Brazilian band CSS from obscurity and hurl it into the national spotlight. Marketers at Apple headquarters in Cupertino were so impressed with the song selection and YouTube video, they arranged for Haley to travel from England to Los Angeles, where he helped advertising executives at TBWA/Chiat/Day

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 25, 2007

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  • ambiguus, on 11/25/2007, -0/+201Forget MTV? Since when did anyone go to MTV for music anymore, they stopped playing music 10 years ago.
  • weeklywordnews, on 11/25/2007, -10/+104When Microsoft uses a song by CSS in a Zune ad = nothing
    When Apple uses it in a iPod ad = $$$$

    (P.S. here's the original, freaky Zune ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd-fMA0HFUE)
  • whymanwhy, on 11/25/2007, -5/+64MUSIC IS MY BOYFRIEND
  • sockpuppets, on 11/25/2007, -0/+56I PIRATED MY GIRLFRIEND.
    AND I PIRATED HER IMAGINARY FRIENDS.
  • supermajic, on 11/25/2007, -1/+53Without the parenthesis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd-fMA0HFUE
  • WyldeJ, on 11/25/2007, -0/+53This one time, I heard a Guitar on MTV.

    True Story.
  • Threlly1, on 11/25/2007, -1/+30Pahh !
    They've been hot in the U.K. since early last year, since the first video popped up on 120minutes.
  • rjosal, on 11/25/2007, -3/+32AJAX - the next Apple ad featured band.
  • onemanriot, on 11/25/2007, -5/+34I don't really have an indie-rock antenna sticking out of my ass so how else am I going to find obscure bands? Go back to reading pitchfork you hipster.
  • peestandingup, on 11/25/2007, -0/+26"Music TeleVision" my ass. If they wanna play nothing but mindless reality shows & other garbage programming all day thats fine. But how bout a name change already??
  • carbog, on 11/25/2007, -5/+29It is a pretty catchy song
  • Charlotte_Web, on 11/25/2007, -0/+19I think that that Zune ad illustrates perfectly why Apple is so smart about branding.

    The Zune ads are all over the place, creatively; they don't form a lasting impression as a series. Like someone said, if I didn't know I was watching a Zune ad, I never would have guessed. It looked more like a Discovery Channel ad.

    The iPod ads always have strong visual cues that tie them all together; long before they tell you it's an iPod ad, you've already guessed that it is.
  • DeviantDragon, on 11/25/2007, -1/+18Wow *****, I guess I can't like anything unless I discover it for myself huh? I guess I can't like anything on Digg because I am discovering it through a form of media, huh? Get this through your head: Just because they nationally promote it doesn't mean they audience has to enjoy it. They are not being told what to like, they happen to like what they've been told. Step off your imaginary throne and think of the band. I guess we'd rather leave the smaller bands to rot from lack of exposure than to get them more airplay and publicity. YEAH! ***** THE WELL-BEING OF THE BAND IF IT MEANS I CAN MAINTAIN MY ELITIST ATTITUDE AND MASTURBATE TO EXCLUSIVITY!
  • woofers07, on 11/25/2007, -1/+17No, they still play music (occasionally)... just really really ***** music.
  • Jeffler, on 11/25/2007, -3/+19MUSIC IS MY GIRLFRIEND
  • hokeywebb22, on 11/25/2007, -2/+13Yep because only Americans like pop music. We are also all so dumb that none of us have our own tastes.
    WOW. Get off your high horse you JACKASS! I mean seriously all of a sudden your are better then everyone because you listen to your own music? Someone who finds out about a new band through television is somehow not equal to you?
  • Firehed, on 11/25/2007, -3/+14Was the entire Redmond campus on acid when that video was made?
  • CrankyHippo, on 11/25/2007, -3/+14Give or take a couple of songs most of the ipod songs are good. When was the last time you saw anything good on MTV?
  • DownIsTheNewUp, on 11/25/2007, -1/+12It really is the perfect song to use for promoting the iPod Touch. But I saw CSS at Coachella this year in an overpacked tent, and again a couple months later at a sold-out 1500 capacity theater. And this was months before the iPod commecial. So next time they come to LA, they'll probably be playing in the Wiltern (2200 capacity) or the Palladium (4000 capacity). Feist just headlined a gig at the 6000 capacity Universal Amphitheater, when a year prior she was playing 1200 capacity clubs.

    There is something unsettling about how commercials do a better job of exposing the unwashed masses to some music that is actually GOOD, when radio and MTV refuse to do so.
  • kashem, on 11/25/2007, -2/+12Apple didn't make the ad. It was the original choice of Nick Haley. Apple only helped him polish it up into HD.
  • LeonardNimrod, on 11/25/2007, -1/+11Which is probably why a UK kid thought to you them in his advert. You can't expect the rest of the world to follow everything England is doing.

  • g33b33, on 11/25/2007, -1/+10Um. If you havent heard a great band before, and the first place you hear it is on an ad, why is that bad?

    Idiot.
  • LeonardNimrod, on 11/25/2007, -1/+9That was a Zune Ad? I thought it was just a music video that came pre-installed on the Zune.

    Regardless, If it was a Zune ad then showng their video would do nothing to hurt sales. The song, while not bad, isn't nerly as catchy or relevant to the product as Music Is My Hot Hot Sex and showing a group of unattractive people just isn't smart. If
  • Synn, on 11/25/2007, -0/+8"If you sell out up-front, your career is shortened," Lefsetz said. "What kind of screwed-up world do we live in where the iPod is cooler than the music it plays?"

    We live in a world where MTV no longer plays music videos and is no longer a vessel for new artists.

    Plus there's a big difference between having music in a commercial for a music related product like the iPod...and having Britney Spears dancing around and "singing" for Pepsi.
  • inactive, on 11/25/2007, -1/+8More proof of how elitist and arrogant Bangor is. "Oh, I have these opinions on American musical taste! I'm so awesome!" Just replace "American musical taste" with any story issue that pops up on the front page of Digg.
  • LeonardNimrod, on 11/25/2007, -0/+7Some facts...
    The song /group has been popular in the UK for some time.
    The ad was created a young man in the UK.

    What part of that would make you think that every American should know about a Brasilian group? We all discover new artists at different times. Often, we are introduced to new music without actively seeking it out as to do so would take way to much time. For instance, in my city I could see new artist s perform every night of the week and still only see a small fraction of what my city has to offer, much less what the rest of the country or world has to offer.
  • weeklywordnews, on 11/25/2007, -0/+7What I was trying to say was that the iPod commercial was more influential on the sales of the band's album then the Zune ad.
    Nothing more, nothing less....
  • ispshadow, on 11/25/2007, -0/+6Well, I don't own a single Apple product and I thought the song was pretty good.

    Guess how that doesn't matter? It's Digg and everybody has an opinion..including your incorrect one.
  • Ianki, on 11/25/2007, -3/+9Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7agPOt1XZz8

    But seriously, apparently The ipod ad two years ago did so much for the Ceasers that they had to re-release the featured song on their next album.
  • kenvsryu, on 11/25/2007, -0/+6The only time you'll see music on MTV is when an iPod commercial is on. Tyra Banks needs to lose weight and shut up.
  • Synn, on 11/25/2007, -0/+6You almost ripped off Lewis Black.
  • rupertmorris, on 11/25/2007, -2/+7It's nice to see unknown/lesser known acts getting the spotlight, and reaping recognition and sales.

    Yet another example of why major labels are dying a slow death. FTA: 73% of young whippersnappers polled prefer iPods and burned CDs to radio.
  • wedges, on 11/25/2007, -1/+6i listened to them before they were an ipod band.
  • danielman94, on 11/25/2007, -0/+5Dude, it's a song?
  • LeonardNimrod, on 11/25/2007, -3/+7In 1996 MTv was required to change their name from Music Televison to Mundane Television because of their lack of music and poorly devised show lineup. True story!
  • Bamborzled, on 11/25/2007, -0/+4Personally, I find HTML's sound more complements that of CSS.
  • Frostman3D, on 11/25/2007, -1/+5I dugg it just because it said "Forget MTV"
  • Stonekeeper, on 11/25/2007, -0/+4"I was like, 'This song is too perfect,' "
    Nobody from leeds speaks like that.
  • garagepunk, on 08/05/2009, -0/+4things are SO much better for bands at the moment, you don't have to suck record company *****, or MTV *****, or corporate radio ***** to get your music exposed anymore, the ideals of punk, do it yourself and ***** the industry have come true in gold, it's just so ***** cool. rock on brothers and sisters. ps, only decent thing MTV did in the last 15 years is jackass :)
  • tylerjames, on 11/25/2007, -0/+3CSS and Death From Above 1979 don't sound anything like each other at all.
  • LeonardNimrod, on 11/25/2007, -1/+4Are you ***** us or are you really to dense to understand these simple lyrics. The name of the Music IS My Hot Hot Sex. It's too obvious to even require an explanation.

    You have singlehandedly brought Digg to a new low.
  • Pic0, on 11/25/2007, -1/+4I wouldn't have listened to them if it wasn't for MS... CSS song was preloaded on my Zune

    typical of Apple to copy something and call it new or an innovation
  • george@CASE, on 11/25/2007, -0/+3does anyone know where to get a high-res copy of this ad?
  • se1zure, on 11/25/2007, -1/+4that really is the stupidest and most irrelivent comic I have seen in my life. Not only are there games fo rmac, ut if you insist on playing a windows only game, you can switch to your windows partition on your mac.
  • se1zure, on 11/25/2007, -0/+2if you turn off the TV every time you see an ad you don't like then you have some issues.
  • krunk4ever, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2Here's the iPod Touch Ad:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKQUZPqDZb0
  • se1zure, on 11/25/2007, -1/+3the commercial didn't tell anyone to buy the song, everyone bought it (or stole it) because it was a good song no one had ever heard of.
    But while we are jumping to erratic conclusions. I guess your comment proves that you never throughly examine a situation, and come to a reasonable conclusion about anything, but rather make yourself look like an ignorant ass.
  • fishsandals, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2i love that the zune comes pre-loaded with css content.. but it takes an apple ad to "save them from obscurity"....
  • Firehed, on 11/25/2007, -0/+2Why is it unsettling? Most people are absolutely obsessed with watching TV continually these days. Be thankful that the TV in your household is at least blasting the nonsense of a channel that would air iPod ads, rather than the continual ***** spewing forward from TLC where I live (I'll decorate my house and wear whatever clothes I want, thank you very ***** much).

    I really must move... it's way too painful living with the embodiment of everything I hate about my country.
  • Androne, on 11/25/2007, -1/+3I downloaded their album there are some other good songs
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