Apple Music makes a play for American heartland

Having already grabbed fans of hip hop and rock, Apple Music is making a play for the American heartland in its latest ad in the United States.

The 60-second clip, shot in black and white - features chart-topping platinum-certified country singer Brantley Gilbert riding around on a motorcycle with friends near the village of Leiper’s Fork in rural Tennessee.

This is the nation’s heartland - a world away from Compton, Brooklyn or Las Vegas.

With imagery heavy on farms, small towns, roadside diners and the American flag, the Georgia-born singer narrates, “I love the feeling out here. The freedom. The simplicity. The open road. This is my home.

“No matter where I go, my heart stays here. With my friends, my family. Just country.

“There’s nothing that replaces the feeling of getting out there and letting it all go in the wind. People you meet, memories you share, and the soundtrack that drives it.

“My country. My people. My music. Apple Music.”

Meantime, the soundtrack includes Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama, Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild, Kendrick Lamar’s Backseat Freestyle and Gilbert’s own single The Ones That Like Me on which he espouses “I ain’t afraid to pray and I do know who I am, yeah.”

"I’ve never been one for commercials," says Gilbert, who has a huge second Amendment Gun tattoo on his back.

"But when we started talking to the folks at Apple, they were saying, ’We want to capture you, the way you live and the values you hold.

“’We want people to see your world, show them what you hear and respond to. If they see you, it says everything.’”

Gilbert added, "To me, when you’re being real, that’s the best way to chase the music.

"When you’re doing that, you’re hitting right up in the place where the songs come from."

The ad debuted on NBC’s pre-race show for NASCAR’s (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) annual 640km Brickyard 400, sponsored by Gilbert and his label Big Machine Records.

If there is a strategy, it is Apple Music stressing that it is an American company, unlike its major rival Spotify which is based in Sweden.

Apple Music is also targeting another niche audience - the EDM scene. An exclusive documentary Stole The Show premiering overnight focuses on Norwegian DJ and producer Kygo.