For music vets, TV shows the place to sell new songs

NEW YORK -- For one week this summer, Bruce Springsteen was the biggest star on television.

There he was in Asbury Park, N.J., where the "Today" show transplanted itself for a day to watch him perform. Ted Koppel interviewed him on "Nightline." Two nights in a row, Springsteen and his E Street Band were featured on David Letterman's "Late Show."

The appearances were timed to coincide with the release of Springsteen's album, "The Rising," and the exposure paid off. The disc sold 526,000 copies its first week, the strongest debut of his career.

Springsteen's small-screen blitz made plain a change that might surprise generations that spent hours cranking the car stereo or hooked up to a Walkman: Television -- and not just MTV -- has supplanted radio as the chief means of exposing new music, particularly for veteran artists.

"You've just about got to do it for people to know that you have a record out," said singer Tom Petty, who was on "Today" in October.

Springsteen and Petty's most loyal fans aren't likely to be reading music magazines or visiting music stores every week to see what's new. They have jobs, kids, mortgages to worry about.

But they probably watch TV -- perhaps "Today" while gulping their morning coffee, or Letterman just before drifting off to sleep.

At the same time, shrinking radio playlists have less room for new music. Far more radio stations are likely to play James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," for example, than take a chance on his new single.

So Taylor spread his easygoing charm liberally before the cameras -- "The View," "Today," "The Charlie Rose Show," "60 Minutes II," on CNN and tabloid entertainment shows. He sang the song, "On the 4th of July," on NBC on a Fourth of July special.

Taylor's new album, "October Road," surprised many in the music industry by debuting at No. 5, his best start ever.

Television networks once synonymous with music -- MTV and VH1 -- are important for viewers under age 30. But they don't play videos that often anymore, and are less crucial for veteran artists than they were 10 or 15 years ago.

"The video thing has become irrelevant," Petty said.