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Mary J. Blige, Jason Flom, Republic Records and Kobalt Music Publishing were among the winners of the 2022 Clio Music Awards, which were presented on Tuesday (May 10) at The Mercy Lounge in Nashville.
The program aims to award excellence in music marketing and the use of music in advertising across multiple mediums. Six-time Grammy nominee Yola hosted the event, which featured performances by Breland and Lily Rose.
Adam Harter, senior vice president, media, sports & entertainment at PepsiCo, presented Blige with the 2022 Clio Music Legend Award, which Pepsi sponsors. In a virtual speech, Blige said: “I really, really am grateful for this award and I want to thank god for just always showering these blessings on me and taking me by surprise.”
Blige will receive the Billboard Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, May 15.
Flom took the stage to accept the 2022 Clio Music Impact Award for his work with The Innocence Project and other criminal justice reform organizations.
The music executive is a founding benefactor of the Bronx Freedom Fund and founding board member of the Innocence Project. He is also a board member of Legal Action Center, Drug Policy Alliance, Families Against Mandatory Minimums and VETPAW and an advisory board member of the NYU Prison Education Program.
The Grand Clio Music Awards, the competition’s highest honor, were awarded to four pieces of work selected by the Clio Music jury. These awards went to:
Film/Video: “Sonho” by AKQA & Stink Films for Nego Bala
Partnerships & Collaborations: “DojaCode” by RCA Records for Girls Who Code x Doja Cat
Social Good: “Teenage Dream” by BBDO NY for Sandy Hook Promise
Use of Music in Trailers/Teasers: “Made for Love Trailer” by Phoenician Order Music for HBO
Clio Music Awards were also given out for label of the year, music publisher of the year, and agency of the year. These winners amassed the most points for work submitted across all medium types. They are:
Agency of the year: BBDO NY
Label of the year: Republic Records
Music publisher of the year: Kobalt Music Publishing
An array of Gold, Silver and Bronze statues were also awarded, for a total of 260 awards granted to a mix of music publishers, labels, artists and agencies. For a full list of 2022 Clio Music winners, visit Clios.com/music.
Clio was founded in 1959 to celebrate creative excellence in advertising. Clio Music, introduced in 2014, celebrates the power of music to connect consumers and brands around the world.
It’s difficult to underestimate how deeply and completely the iPod revolutionized music listening. Introduced in 2001, the pocket-sized device escorted music consumers out of the CD era and into the gleaming digital age. (“I don’t know who your product’s designers are,” Moby said in a 2001 promotional video from Apple, “but boy, you’re not paying them enough.”)
Of course, iPod commercials quickly became as iconic as the products they sold. Launched in 2003, the classic iPod ad campaign featured silhouettes of people dancing like mad in front of brightly colored backgrounds, with the iPod and its headphones in stark white contrast. These clips are deeply embedded in the memories of most anyone who watched television in the 2000s.
With each commercial featuring a single song, the campaign was also a powerful tool for launching music by both indie and superstar artists. Songs used in iPod commercials during the device’s heyday got a massive boost in visibility and sales, with Steve Jobs himself often hand-picking and giving final approval on songs used in some of Apple’s best-known ads.
“In using a most discriminated and discerning ear and aligning great and significant music with rich imagery and simple messaging, Apple has taken what jingles had done in the past and created a new and masterful neojingle, which instead of literally singing about the product becomes inextricably connected to sound,” Josh Rabinowitz, senior vp/director of music for ad agency Grey Worldwide, told Billboard of iPod ad syncs in 2011. “It feels not as if they borrowed or even stole the music, but that the music belonged to the Apple brand.”
Indeed, for those of us who were there when these ads launched, the songs below are forever linked with those silhouettes shimmying and sashaying to music that spanned genres, but all had cutting edge appeal, even when the track being used was years old. After Apple’s announcement Tuesday (May 10) that it would be discontinuing the iPod Touch — the only remaining model of the portable MP3 players — after more than 20 years of the product that changed it all, these are the 10 iPod commercial music synchs that really stick with us.
U2, “Vertigo” (Ad Launched In 2004)
Unos, dos, tres, catorce! In a splashy 2004 cross-promotion, U2 launched its new song “Vertigo” in an iPod ad to promote the band’s new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. This sync marked one of the few iPod ads that featured silhouettes of the actual band playing the song. (A limited edition U2 iPod would also land in 2006.)
Jet, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” (Ad Launched In 2004)
Originally released in 2003, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by UK band Jet got such a massive popularity boost when it was used in a 2004 iPod ad that the song was re-released in the UK that same year.
Ozomatli, “Saturday Night” (Ad Launched In 2004)
The use of Ozomatli‘s 2004 track “Saturday Night’ marked the first instance of Apple selecting a hip-hop track for the iPod campaign.
Caesars, “Jerk It Out” (Ad Launched In 2005)
While the 2002 track “Jerk It Out” from Swedish rock act Caesars was also used in international ads for Coca Cola, Nivea and the Bulgarian phone company Mobitel, it was its placement in a 2005 commercial for the first iPod Shuffle that gave the song global recognition, a major boost in digital sales and placement in the 2000s pop culture canon.
Daft Punk, “Technologic” (Ad Launched In 2005)
Daft Punk was already a Very Big Deal in 2005. But the French duo’s iPod ad featuring “Technologic” (from their 2005 LP Human After All) thrust the robots further into mainstream consciousness via the commercial featuring silhouetted dancers doing, naturally, the robot.
Gorillaz, “Feel Good Inc.” (Ad Launched In 2005)
While Gorillaz had already appeared on the Hot 100 with their 2001 hit “Clint Eastwood,” it was this iPod ad — featuring, in a stroke of genius, dancers on rollerskates! — that helped propel the UK act into the big time, with the song ultimately hitting No. 14 on the Hot 100 in August 2005.
Bob Dylan, “Someday Baby” (Ad Launched In 2006)
Two years after Bob Dylan‘s first-ever commercial appearance in a 2004 Victoria’s Secret ad, he promoted his 2006 album Modern Times to the youths via this ad (from the same year) that featured the icon in the series’ standard silhouette form — along with a sole shimmying female dancer.
Feist, “1234” (Ad Launched In 2007)
Feist got a huge boost when her single “1234” — hand-selected for use in an iPod Nano commercial by Steve Jobs himself — hit 249,000 in digital sales the month the ad launched, up from 6,000 in sales the month prior. (Visibility from the ad also helped lift the song to No. 8 on the Hot 100 in October of 2007.)
Coldplay, “Viva La Vida” (Ad Launched In 2008)
An iTunes ad featuring Coldplay‘s “Viva La Vida” launched in tandem with the song’s June 2008 release, helping aggregate 240,000 in digital sales during the song’s first month.
Cake, “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” (Ad Launched In 2010)
Used in an iPod nano ad a full nine years after the song’s 2001 release, digital sales of Cake‘s quirky “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” soared to 35,000 the month that 2010 commercial launched. (By comparison, the song had clocked 5,000 digital sales the month prior.)
The Weeknd’s Dawn FM re-enters Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 14) at No. 1 following the album’s release on vinyl, cassette and in boxed set configurations on April 29. It’s the set’s second nonconsecutive week atop the tally; it first reached No. 1 on the Feb. 12-dated chart, after its CD configuration was issued.
Dawn FM sold 44,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending May 5 (up 2,284%) according to Luminate. Of that sum, nearly 34,000 were vinyl LPs – marking the largest sales week for an R&B album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991. (R&B albums are defined as those that have hit Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.) Previously, Prince’s Welcome 2 America had the largest sales week on vinyl for an R&B album in the Luminate era, with 22,000 sold in its first week (chart dated Aug. 14, 2021).
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Dawn FM was initially released on Jan. 7 via streaming services and as a digital download. Its CD edition bowed on Jan. 28 with multiple signed collector’s editions available via The Weeknd’s official webstore, a signed CD sold at independent record stores and a Target-exclusive version with alternate cover art. Then, its vinyl, cassette and deluxe boxed set editions arrived on April 29.
Miranda Lambert’s new studio album Palomino debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 24,000 copies sold – the largest sales week for a country album in 2022. It’s also her eighth top 10 on Top Album Sales.
Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks, Volume 42: Winterland, San Francisco, CA – 2/23/74 debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales (22,000 sold). Dave’s Picks is the act’s continuing live archival release series, named for the group’s archivist, David Lemieux, that has been going strong since its first release in 2012.
On the Billboard 200 chart, Dave’s Picks, Vol. 42 debuts at No. 12 – Grateful Dead’s highest debut ever. It also ties 1975’s Blues for Allah as the band’s second-highest charting album. The only album from Grateful Dead to go higher on the list was 1987’s In the Dark, which peaked at No. 6 (Aug. 22, 1987-dated chart).
Dave’s Picks, Vol. 42 also marks Grateful Dead’s 52nd top 40-charting album on the Billboard 200. The band continues to have the most top 40 albums among groups since the chart began regularly publishing on a weekly basis in March of 1956. The acts with the most top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 are: Frank Sinatra (58), Elvis Presley (57), Barbra Streisand (54), Grateful Dead (52) and Bob Dylan (51). (Thirty-four of Grateful Dead’s 51 top 40-charting albums are from the Dave’s Picks series.)
Rammstein’s Zeit starts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with 17,000 sold – the rock band’s second top 10. Willie Nelson’s latest, A Beautiful Time, bows at No. 5 with 9,000 sold.
Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour rises 12-6 with 7,000 sold (though down 20%). It jumps up the list despite its decline in sales as the chart adjusts back to normal after Record Store Day. A week ago, the chart was full of Record Store Day specialty releases, and then on the new chart, nearly all fall off the list.
Kehlani’s new Blue Water Road debuts at No. 7 on Top Album Sales with 6,500 and Future’s I Never Liked You bows at No. 8 with nearly 6,500.
Norah Jones’ chart-topping Come Away With Me re-enters at No. 9 with 6,000 sold (up 4,687%) following its 20th anniversary reissue on April 29. The album, which was released in 2002 and topped the Billboard 200 for four nonconsecutive weeks, was reissued in a variety of formats – some boasting a bevy of bonus tracks. All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.
Rounding out the new top 10 is Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which vaults 37-10 with 5,500 sold (up 3%).
In the week ending May 5, there were 1.826 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 21.4% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.42 million (down 26.9%) and digital albums comprised 406,000 (up 5.8%).
There were 669,000 CD albums sold in the week ending May 5 (up 8.6% week-over-week) and 739,000 vinyl albums sold (down 43.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 11.37 million (down 12.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 13.406 million (up 4.4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 32.220 million (down 7.8% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 24.946 million (down 3.8%) and digital album sales total 7.275 million (down 19.2%).
5 Seconds of Summer know their fans are hyped for new music, and they sure are milking the anticipation.
After announcing their that their upcoming album’s next single, “Me, Myself, and I” will be arriving on Wednesday (May 11), the group slowly began to reveal the rest of their tracklist in a lengthy Twitter thread on Tuesday. The tracklist rollout happened over the course of 10 hours, with each song posted in a different language before it was added to a photo of the tracklist in English.
“Me, Myself, and I” and the previously released singles, “Complete Mess” and “Take My Hand” are on the 19-song bill alongside “Easy for You,” “Bad Omens,” “Carousel,” “Older,” “Haze,” You Don’t Go to Parties,” “Blender,” “Carmel,” “Best Friend,” “Bleach,” “Red Line,” “Moodswings,” “Flatline,” “Emotions,” “Bloodhound,” and “Tears!”
All that’s remaining is the name of 5SOS’s fifth studio album, which fans are starting to believe is simply called 5SOS5 after the band retweeted a few theories guessing the name, complete with coy eye emojis.
👀 👀 👀 👀 👀 @thinwhitehighs pic.twitter.com/6i5CSlLDUn
— 5 Seconds of Summer (@5SOS) May 10, 2022
See the tracklist (so far) below. The upcoming album follows the Australian quartet’s 2020 album, Calm. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated April 11, 2020 and spent nine total weeks on the chart.
19. SLZY! pic.twitter.com/2W30i7uXur
— 5 Seconds of Summer (@5SOS) May 10, 2022
5 Seconds of Summer Tracklist:
1. “Complete Mess
2. “Easy for You”
3. “Bad Omens”
4. “Me, Myself, and I”
5. “Take My Hand”
6. “Carousel”
7. “Older”
8. “Haze”
9. “You Don’t Go to Parties”
10. “Blender”
11. “Carmel”
12. “Best Friend”
13. “Bleach”
14. “Red Line”
15. “Moodswings”
16. “Flatline”
17. “Emotions”
18. “Bloodhound”
19. “Tears!”
Ciara got quite the surprise from Russell Wilson on Mother’s Day: a brand new puppy!
On Monday (May 9), the superstar couple took to social media to introduce the world to their latest bundle of furry joy. “Meet.. BRONCO,” Ciara wrote using a dog emoji. “The kids call her Bronco Love Brownie:) The sweetest surprise. I love you baby @DangeRussWilson #MothersDay.”
“Got a puppy!” the Beauty Marks singer gushes in the accompanying video as she cuddles up next to the Denver Broncos quarterback with a giant smile on her face. “Say hi — say hi, Bronco! Say ‘hi guys.’ That’s a cute girl.”
Back in March, Ciara hosted Billboard’s 2022 Women in Music for the second time, opening the star-studded night with a special moment of silence for Ukraine before MC-ing the evening filled with performances by this year’s honorees including Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Summer Walker, Gabby Barrett and more. On the red carpet for the event, Wilson hilariously crashed his wife’s interview with Billboard‘s Chelsea Briggs to remind her she needed to hit the stage.
Since then, the singer has also stepped in to guest host The Ellen DeGeneres Show. During her stint, she even welcomed her hubby to the set — as a guest this time — and he promptly put the mom of three on the spot by sweetly asking for more kids. Getting down on one knee after presenting her a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, he asked, “I have a question for you. A serious question. Can we have more babies? It will be perfect. Just give me one more at least, you know what I mean?”
Meet the couple’s cute new addition to the family below.
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