Music ads hit a fever pitch

“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.

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