TV commercials create the latest hip playlists
CANNES, France (Reuters) – You’ve seen the ads, now get the soundtrack.
Advertising firms are relying increasingly on the vast libraries of pop, rock and roll and dance tracks to accompany TV spots and commissioning less original music that can turn into an unforgettable jingle. The phenomenon has helped launch new bands like never before as artists have overcome a previous reluctance to have their music associated with corporate brands.
An iPod commercial featuring the song “Jerk It Out” catapulted Swedish band Caesars into wider recognition and British sensation Coldplay only got discovered in the United States after TV network NBC used “Yellow” in a promotion. Companies targeting younger consumers use independent music from around the world to make their products seem hipper.
“A major marketing move for bands has been getting on a commercial,” Chris Milk, a TV commercial and music video director, said this week at the advertising industry’s annual get-together in the south of France.
“In the past, a song on a commercial made you a sell-out, but now because the cool indie rock bands are doing it, it’s opened it up for everyone,” Milk said.
Indeed, everyone from James Brown and Led Zeppelin to Jimi Hendrix and Elvis have had their music used to flog cars, computers, beverages and soap. Important turning points for music in ads were Nike’s use of the Beatles’ “Revolution” in 1987 and Microsoft’s Windows 95 launch to the tune of the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.”
Techno star Moby licensed every song off his 1999 album “Play” for commercial use.
Apple’s iTunes online music store now has a section devoted to popular songs used in advertising, making it easier for fans to buy something they have heard on television.
U2 recently changed its tune by agreeing to an iPod campaign to help launch its latest album, but rocker Bruce Springsteen and rapper Eminem are among the remaining few holding out.
GET RICH ON DOWNLOADS?
The increasing use of music libraries has made it even cheaper for ad firms and their clients to license a song, as has the perception that record companies and bands will get rich selling CDs and downloads after the commercial airs.
But that could just be a successful negotiating ploy.
“I think there can be a tremendous benefit to a new band, and when it works, it’s fantastic, but it happens rarely,” said Barbara Zamoyska, head of film, TV and advertising for Universal Music Publishing in Britain.
“A lot of new artists are used in commercials but it doesn’t sell lots of records for most of them,” she said.
Some in the ad industry are railing against the use of existing music and trying to persuade companies to get more creative and commission their own original songs.
The highly regarded Honda “grrr” ad for a cleaner diesel engine, which is widely favored to take the top prize this weekend at the International Advertising Festival, uses an original song by radio host Garrison Keillor with an infectious whistling refrain.
“Don’t think because music doesn’t come off a CD that it’s less beneficial,” said Michelle Curran, founder of Amber Music, which helps advertisers with sound design and who worked on the “grrr” commercial.
She said she is frustrated that advertisers are reluctant to pay the usually higher price to commission original music, even though it can make their ad stand out, and that they’re willing to spend more on expensive locations and other facets of an ad.
“It also becomes something the client owns without it being seen as nasty and tacky,” Curran said.
Another common problem that holds back the writing of an original jingle is that music is often left as an afterthought when creating a commercial, or at least relegated to the very end of the process when pressure is higher to finish it.
“Most advertising doesn’t realize music’s full potential,” said Craig Davis, the chief creative officer for JWT Worldwide, a unit of WPP Group. “When done right, music packs emotional power and has a profound effect on the end product.”
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