There’s one thing we know for sure, and it’s that Tim Cook really likes OneRepublic. Even before Cook took the helm at Apple, though, the company’s events, commercials, and even its stores have become iconic for their music choices. If you had to hard-assign a genre to it, it would be classified as Bay Area–I’m-Not-a-Regular-Dad-I’m-a-Cool-Dad.
In recent years, Apple has invested even more in defining its music choices, with surprise performances and concerts included in its larger events and announcements. Today Apple had another chance to finesse its taste. Instead of celebrating the Oldchella lineup, though, the company this year highlighted music from lesser-known artists like Leaf, an up-and-coming female rapper from Brooklyn. That was likely the doing of Bozoma Saint John, Apple Music’s head of global consumer marketing, who tried and failed to get a room full of developers to match her bars on The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” We salute her courageous, if doomed, effort.
WWDC has been a fascinating glance into the company’s music choices for years, with the soundtrack getting larger and more eclectic as the event has grown. So enjoy this listening history of WWDC keynote tracks.
“Rapper’s Delight,” The Sugarhill Gang (2016)
“Tom Sawyer,” Rush (2016)
“Money,” Leaf (2016)
“Ye Wo Krom,” Atom (ft. Jhunea) (2016)
“Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,” LCD Soundsystem (2016)
“Pompeii,” Bastille (2015)
“Shut Up and Dance,” Walk the Moon (2015)
“Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen (2015)
“Glory (From the Motion Picture ‘Selma’),” Common and John Legend (2015)
“Homenaje Al Beny (Castellano Que Bueno Baila Usted),” Gente de Zona (2015)
“I Love Rock ’N Roll,” Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (2015)
“My Life,” Loren Kramar (2015)
“Respect,” Aretha Franklin (2015)
“Selene,” Imagine Dragons (2015) [Sidenote: a Siri mistake?!]
“Ship to Wreck,” Florence + The Machine (2015)
“Uma Thurman,” Fall Out Boy (2015)
“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars) (2015)
“In the Clear,” Foo Fighters (2015)
“A Sky Full of Stars,” Coldplay (2015)
“Counting Stars,” OneRepublic (2014)
“The Wire,” Haim (2014)
“Unbelievers,” Vampire Weekend (2013)
“Gimme Shelter,” The Rolling Stones (2013)
“Locked Out of Heaven,” Bruno Mars (2013)
“One More Night,” Maroon 5 (2013)
“Whole Lotta Love,” Led Zeppelin (2013)
“I Got You (I Feel Good),” James Brown and His Famous Flames (2011)
“What a Wonderful World,” Louis Armstrong (2010)
“Funny the Way It Is,” Dave Matthews Band (2009)
“Walkie Talkie Man,” Steriogram (2004)