Indie musicians have a new shortcut to reach megastar status: Having their music picked up for an Apple commercial., “New Soul”, by Yael Naim, was featured in the ad for the MacBook Air. The song just debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 at number nine. Not bad for somebody nobody had heard of a few months ago.

In this regard, Apple is following in the footsteps of Levi’s. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the jeans company broke many new acts with its famous TV commercials. In the UK, having a song featured in a Levi’s spot pretty much guaranteed a number one hit. And Apple knows this. Famous for driving hard deals, the Cupertino company pays a lot less than usual for its music rights. According to Ad Age, Apple paid just $80,000 for Feist’s “1234″. The normal cost would be around $300,000.

It helps that Apple is a “cool” brand. Licensing music for a Mac ad is not seen as selling out to The Man. Can you imagine, say, the Beastie Boys allowing their music to be used in a Vista commercial? Neither can we.

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