Advertising Age blogger, Mike Tunnicliffe recently profiled eclectic/ Hip-hop/poet/ rocker/ artist/ Thingamajiggy, Saul Williams who recently had a huge career come up when Nike approached him about licensing his song “List of Demands” to for their “My Better Is Better Than Your Better” campaign…you know the one with Ladainian Tomlinson (Peep Bottom)

Williams’ rise came as result of a suggestion made by his mentor and Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Reznor who recommended that his critically acclaimed “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust” (sounds rather racist…lol) be released for free download to fans lo-fi with the option to cop a higher-quality $5 version on his website.

The Result: Sales of his album have obviously increased as a result of the Nike commercial and as result of his marketing scheme, 225,000 people have downloaded the album while 60,000 have dropped the five bills for the hi-fi version. The YouTube video has received 400,000 views and the digital single has been selling 10,000 copies a week since the ad first aired.

Now I’m sure most of you have seen the commercial by now or will by weeks end. I’m not sure The Nation would feel Williams music just because its a little too “eclectic” but you’ve gotta respect the hustle.

Lesson: To all you struggling artists out there. There is more than one way to success in the music world. There are no more handouts in the music business but with a good marketing plan, some persistence, and a few breaks there is still room for you no matter how strange your music sounds.

List of Demand Video

My Better Is Better Than Your Better Commercial