The last few years have seen companies go away from the long-standing practice of writing their own jingle and instead finding some obscure band and buying the rights to one of their tunes. It used to be that allowing your music to appear in a commercial was seen as selling out, but people have finally started to realize it makes a lot of sense for any artist struggling for attention in an increasingly-crowded music industry which has many new ways for artists to be seen and heard but very few which give them an opportunity to stand out. An audience of 100 million people during the one time all year when they aren't fast-forwarding through the commercials is a pretty nice leg up on the competition. For example, the first time I heard the band Fun was when "We Are Young" was featured in a car commercial. I remembered the song, but couldn't tell you what car they were trying to get me to buy. Also, the stigma of being in a commercial hardly sticks with bands the way it used to - it is all about whether or not the song is good. Just a couple of weeks ago the Lumineers were on "Saturday Night Live" and immediately after their performance segment they cut to a commercial featuring a different Lumineers song. I didn't even bat an eyelash at the coincidence and instead thought of it as a bonus performance. Sure, it is probably embarrassing at first to be known as the guys from that commercial, but as long as you don't agree to let your music be used to advertise something like chemical waste or adult diapers that stigma wears off pretty quickly. Sure, your first and most loyal fans may be upset that you "went corporate", but it certainly beats sticking to your principles and never playing in front of more than 50 people.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
A Captive Audience
As I mentioned yesterday when I gave my prediction for the game, we have finally reached Super Bowl Sunday. What I like about this game is that it has a little something for us all. Obviously for everyone inside San Francisco and Baltimore this game means everything. But, even non-Raven and 49er football fans are going to be watching because it is the last time we will see an actual game until August. Gamblers will be watching every aspect closely because you can bet on everything from the coin toss to the length of the National Anthem. Even not sports-fans can be entertained by the spectacle of it all, specifically the commercials. I can almost guarantee that whichever morning show you like to have on in the background as you prepare to go about your day will be talking about their favorite commercial and which one was the most memorable. Having seen most of the leaked commercials already and not been impressed so far, I go into the game with lowered expectations. Still, I will be excited for the decidedly new aspect of the Super Bowl commercials - seeing which relatively unknown band will experience a huge surge in iTunes downloads when their song appears in a popular ad.
The last few years have seen companies go away from the long-standing practice of writing their own jingle and instead finding some obscure band and buying the rights to one of their tunes. It used to be that allowing your music to appear in a commercial was seen as selling out, but people have finally started to realize it makes a lot of sense for any artist struggling for attention in an increasingly-crowded music industry which has many new ways for artists to be seen and heard but very few which give them an opportunity to stand out. An audience of 100 million people during the one time all year when they aren't fast-forwarding through the commercials is a pretty nice leg up on the competition. For example, the first time I heard the band Fun was when "We Are Young" was featured in a car commercial. I remembered the song, but couldn't tell you what car they were trying to get me to buy. Also, the stigma of being in a commercial hardly sticks with bands the way it used to - it is all about whether or not the song is good. Just a couple of weeks ago the Lumineers were on "Saturday Night Live" and immediately after their performance segment they cut to a commercial featuring a different Lumineers song. I didn't even bat an eyelash at the coincidence and instead thought of it as a bonus performance. Sure, it is probably embarrassing at first to be known as the guys from that commercial, but as long as you don't agree to let your music be used to advertise something like chemical waste or adult diapers that stigma wears off pretty quickly. Sure, your first and most loyal fans may be upset that you "went corporate", but it certainly beats sticking to your principles and never playing in front of more than 50 people.
The last few years have seen companies go away from the long-standing practice of writing their own jingle and instead finding some obscure band and buying the rights to one of their tunes. It used to be that allowing your music to appear in a commercial was seen as selling out, but people have finally started to realize it makes a lot of sense for any artist struggling for attention in an increasingly-crowded music industry which has many new ways for artists to be seen and heard but very few which give them an opportunity to stand out. An audience of 100 million people during the one time all year when they aren't fast-forwarding through the commercials is a pretty nice leg up on the competition. For example, the first time I heard the band Fun was when "We Are Young" was featured in a car commercial. I remembered the song, but couldn't tell you what car they were trying to get me to buy. Also, the stigma of being in a commercial hardly sticks with bands the way it used to - it is all about whether or not the song is good. Just a couple of weeks ago the Lumineers were on "Saturday Night Live" and immediately after their performance segment they cut to a commercial featuring a different Lumineers song. I didn't even bat an eyelash at the coincidence and instead thought of it as a bonus performance. Sure, it is probably embarrassing at first to be known as the guys from that commercial, but as long as you don't agree to let your music be used to advertise something like chemical waste or adult diapers that stigma wears off pretty quickly. Sure, your first and most loyal fans may be upset that you "went corporate", but it certainly beats sticking to your principles and never playing in front of more than 50 people.
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