The success of "Such Great Heights" was a grassroots approach. For example, in Boston, local independent retailer Newbury Comics campaigned for the city's alternative station, WFNX, to put the song on the air. Two of the first stations to broadcast the tune were KCRW in Los Angeles and KITS in San Francisco. In January 2004, influential Los Angeles alternative station KROQ-FM began playing "Such Great Heights", which bolstered the album's popularity. Sub Pop offered a free download of the song on their official website, which had been downloaded over nine million times by August 2005. Sub Pop A&R director Tony Kiewel was told by executives that the song had high "burn factor"—radio terminology for a song that listeners might quickly grow tired of.