An iTunes Feat

The band Black Lab got a spike in iTunes sales for its track "Mine Again" yesterday, thanks to the blogger/podcaster campaign we wrote about Thursday.

The idea, briefly, was to get music fans to buy copies of "Mine Again" on Thursday and get the song on Apple's iTunes bestseller list. The organizers were hoping to prove to the recording industry that bloggers and podcast hosts have market-moving power. For more of an explanation, check the campaign's site.

The track didn't quite hit number one with a bullet, but it's at number 67 on the U.S. iTunes rock chart right now, parked between songs from U2 and Guns 'n' Roses.

Neil Bearse, a podcaster and one of the organizers of the event, said that the song has cracked the charts in many countries around the world. "Mine Again" was the No. 5 rock song in Holland and the No. 9 rock song in Sweden, for example. The song also cracked the top 100 in countries like Austria Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, the UK and Canada.

Though one of his co-organizers had predicted the track could hit the very top of the charts, Bearse sounded content with the results, and characterized the campaign as a success. The total sales numbers aren't in yet, he said.

At tech-oriented news sites like Digg, the campaign received a lukewarm response. The general tone of much of the discussion went something like this: How, exactly, is it that we're supposed to be protesting the Man by buying stuff from the Man? This being the interweb, the campaign was also seen by many as a conspiracy...

By Mike Musgrove |  March 23, 2007; 1:44 PM ET  | Category:  Mike Musgrove
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Posted by: Chas Beasley | March 24, 2007 10:26 AM

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