Theory: iTunes commercial hurts Vertigo airplay, lifts Album sales

[xovonob now!]

Just a thought I've been having... i apologize if i'm repeating anybody in another thread.

Seems to make sense that because Vertigo is such a catchy song that people may be getting their Vertigo fix from the ever-present Apple iTunes commercial. So people may not be rabidly requesting it at radio stations and radio station may not think they are playing something new. But it is generating massive exposure for U2 and making people curious about the album.

The only way i can think to verify this theory is by looking at the Jet "are you going to be my girl" single and album numbers.

 

[voxson]

I wouldn't really agree with you. I'm not in the US so I cannot see how much Vertigo is played because of the itunes commercial however my guess is that both of them combined do not nearly reach how much some of the higher placed songs in the charts are played. So if they are not overplayed, neither is vertigo. Moreover, isn't only a 30sec commercial played? Hardly a substitute for the song. I think this is doing both the song and the album good.

 

[doctorwho]

I really don't think "Vertigo" could have gone much higher on the U.S. charts. "Beautiful Day" was far more universal, and it only hit #21.

If one looks at the songs in the U.S. Top 20, you'll find precious few rock songs - and some are from current "hot" people, like Avril Lavigne's "My Happy Ending". The Top 20 is dominated by rap and R&B. The fact that U2's "Vertigo" was almost able to crack the Top 30 is a pretty big feat. If this were 1992-95, I think U2 would have had a far bigger hit with "Vertigo" - but the current music singles scene is rock oriented.

Also, "Vertigo" is not as universal a song as "Beautiful Day" or "Clocks". It is more "punk" sounding, which makes it a tad less appealing to the mass market. So again, the fact that it became a Top 40 hit is to the credit of U2, Apple and marketing.

However, ultimately, I think you are right - the commercials are really helping the album. Adam Clayton recently commented that ATYCLB only produced one hit song. I disagree - "Stuck in a Moment..." did quite well on the charts. It didn't break into the Top 40, but it doesn't mean it wasn't a hit. They don't call it the "Hot 100" for nothing! More importantly, though, is the fact that U2 aren't really a singles type group. Yes, they've had their hits but really, they are an album group. And as evidenced by the already massive one day sales for HTDAAB, this trend continues. Nothing wrong with this - Led Zeppelin made a career out of having monstrous album sales, with very few hit songs. And Zeppelin is considered a classic.