Apple is not the same company it was under Steve Jobs’ stewardship. Any company that starts in a small garage in Cupertino and grows into a massive corporation pulling in US$180 billion a year, according to Tim Cook’s shotgun estimates on Charlie Rose, will change. Over the decades, as new product categories, more powerful processors, and new tech philosophies have matured with Apple so have their musical tastes.
Spotted by Redditor matthewmspace, Applemusic.info is a website devoted to tracking down every song used in any Apple commercial, keynote, announcement trailer, or any other official Apple event in the company’s history. The list starts back in 1984 with Jobs introducing the first Macintosh. At the time, the company decided to go with “Chariots of Fire.” Fair enough, an epic song for an epic moment. Plus, the British historical drama of the same name came out only three years earlier, so using the track probably wasn’t as painfully unoriginal as it is today.
After that Apple seemed content just running the classic rock and folk game with commercials featuring Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and Cream. However, all this came undone in 2001 when Apple featured a commercial for its iBook with the outro song blasting Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out.” With the introduction of iTunes in early 2001 and the subsequent release of the first iPod later that fall, Apple adopted (and rightfully so) a more modern appreciation of music using Muse’s “Sunburn” and Smash Mouth’s “All Star” as a few examples.
For the next decade, Apple continued with a steady mixture of classic rock and American top 40. By 2012, Apple’s musical tastes seem reasonably well-informed, preferring indie tracks from Grizzly Bear, Sigur Ros, and The Album Leaf with a few pop hits thrown in for good measure. This year, Apple appears to have dropped pop altogether, preferring bands like the Black Keys, HAIM, and yes, of course, how could we forget U2. During the iPhone 6 extravaganza, I personally jammed out to Tycho’s “Apogee” on livestream before Tim Cook took the stage. I think after 30 years, Apple finally gets me. [Reddit]