There seems to be a noticeable trend going on right now with the use of music in TV commercials. Remember when Nike would pay top dollar to tap into the Beatles catalog? Their advertising budget probably paid for a whole wing of the Neverland Ranch. These days it seems like newer and lesser known bands are getting those royalty checks and their music ends up getting just as much promotion as the corporate product. How many people new about Feist before "1234" was used by iPod? The trend makes all kinds of sense. I've gotta believe that it's cheaper on the advertising budgets to buy the rights to a song from some indie rock kids instead of an established classic rock band, and you don't have to be too savvy to find these songs with the prominence of satellite radio and the Internet. I don't blame these bands for taking advantage of the opportunity either. Jeff Tweedy will probably put his kids through college with that check from Volkswagen...
The latest example I could think of are these two kids from Brooklyn hitting the big time thanks to an infectious song and America's thirst for numbness in the form of a sweet summer drink. Here's the video followed by the actual commercial...
Man, I want a Mojito now...
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I think you have made a really good observation. I can remember the big deal of trying to get a Madonna song for a Pepsi commercial in the 80s. Now, a catchy groove, say from Wilco can benefit both the company and the artist. It seemed like Volkswagon promoted Wilco's second to last album. Is it selling out or just getting your music out there?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's really selling out if it's done relatively tastefully for the right product. You also have to consider that we're in the midst of an age when bands are no longer making money from record sales. I think that forces bands to find other sources of revenue because they can't be on the road all of the time...
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