Music ads hit a fever pitch

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"Last summer, Kmart struck a deal with the Raveonettes to feature their song, "That Great Love Sound" in their commercials. Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" is now being used in a PSP commercial and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's have a new song in an Adidas commercial.

The use of indie songs in both advertisements and superficial shows undermines the artistry and meaning of the song as it is attached to a product, show or brand. While there is no escaping this trend, bands and labels need to be careful not to alienate fans by using their songs to "endorse" a product or show."

MTV fails to push indie rock, prefers the pebbles

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"Among the bands now jamming for Madison Avenue: Franz Ferdinand for the Sony PSP, The Who for Saab, and The Spinners' "Rubberband Man" for OfficeMax. Once a holdout, Led Zeppelin, caved for Cadillac and U2 rocked for iPod. Even Bob Dylan did a spot for Victoria's Secret and Sting revived his music sales in a spot for Jaguar."

Music ads hit a fever pitch

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On a related note, a coworker asked me if I ever heard of Franz Ferdinand yesterday. They heard them for the first time in the PSP commercial and immediately (legally) downloaded the song.

posted at 9:24 PM on April 13, 2005 in music | Comments (8)

Comments (8)

but its not a big deal and it doesnt undermine the artist. argue this all you want, but demand for new music remains constant. the consolidated state of media cant and wont meet this need for most consumers. most artists, even on major labels can no longer get airplay. they need exposure some other way. the new adidas commercial w/ karen o. i think is a good example, people remember the song and visual more strongly than the product it sells. the artist are getting support both monetarily and in terms of listenership. even indie rock artists want to make a living, and play for as many people as possible. so i dont see the big deal.

Posted by paul | April 14, 2005 5:37 PM

Yeah, and as a mom who watches PBS kids shows.... DC based WETA uses a bit from Take Me Out as a bump between shows!

Posted by Daphne | April 15, 2005 6:02 PM

I choose to agree with Paul on this one.

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Circle gets the square!

Posted by Albert | August 1, 2005 1:15 PM

That new Jag commercial with Aqueduct is just kind of bizarre.

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