Aerosmith Music Sales Up 250% Since Steven Tyler Became Judge on 'Idol'

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Steven Tyler’s popularity on American Idol is boosting Aerosmith’s music sales. 

Since Season 10 premiered on Jan. 19, with Tyler making his debut on the judges’ panel alongside Jennifer Lopez, sales of his band’s Greatest Hits collections have shot up more than 250%, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 

Aerosmith’s 1994 compilation Big Ones, saw increased sales of 260% after the show’s premiere. Likewise, 2004’s Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith, saw a spike of 146% after week 2 of Idol. Two more Greatest Hits collections registered surges of 137% and 147%. 

Some perspective: Prior to the Fox show’s launch, Aerosmith catalog sales were on the decline, selling under 1,000 copies a week. That number has swelled to well over 2,000 per release. 

In the singles arena, Aerosmith is also seeing a dramatic uptick. For the week ending Jan. 30, the band sold 34,000 downloads of the Diane Warren-penned Idol perennial “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” which winner David Cook sang during Season 7's Top 3, an increase of +363%. “Dream On,” their breakout hit from 1973, saw 26,000 downloads, good for a 318% spike over the week before. 

Perhaps the biggest boost, however, will come to Tyler and the Aerosmith crew as the band heads in the studio to record its first album since 2004’s Honkin' On Bobo. The band recently completed eight days of writing with plans for a release sometime this year.

As for Idol, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford says Tyler’s new gig can only be a good thing. “It's going to expand our audience, for sure,” Whitford recently told the Boston Herald. “People who would never think about seeing Aerosmith might change their minds after seeing him on TV.”