Travis Shinn; Image Group LA/ABCThe music of Disturbed was introduced to a whole new audience last week: When their cover version of “The Sound of Silence” was used to soundtrack a figure skating routine at the 2018 Winter Olympics, it resulted in a big sales boost for the track.
According to Billboard, the Chicago metallers’ orchestral take on the Simon & Garfunkel classic earned 17,000 digital downloads for the week ending February 15: a 289% jump. The song was used during a performance from French figure skating pair Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres on February 14.
But the gold medal for Olympic sales boosts goes to Coldplay, whose 2014 song “O” experienced a more than 10,300% increase in digital downloads, after U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon used it in his routine on February 12.
Coldplay’s songs “Paradise” and “Fix You” also earned 411% and 61% gains, respectively, in digital downloads. Those two tracks soundtracked the February 12 performance by U.S. sibling figure skating duo Alex and Maia Shibutani.
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