So, an article in yesterday’s Variety talked about how artists are turning to film to record quality original work, clogging this year’s Best Song Oscar race with folks who, while not as groundbreaking as the Three 6 Mafia, are at least somewhat more vibrant than, say, Celine Dion. Meanwhile, our friends over at Idolator pulled out (and properly mocked) a complaint by Jewel (pictured) over how film and TV work is, in fact, all she can get these days. Seems Mrs. Whatever-The-
Name-Of-Her-Bullriding-Husband-Is has gotten frustrated with the fact that record companies are no longer care about the music, just about the promotion.
Well, as silly as it is for Jewel to be bemoaning her recent lack of success (I’m sure her Men in Trees cameo really grabbed the MySpace crowd by the throat), the gal’s got a little bit of a point. A quick spin through the interbunny this morning — and by quick I mean like 20 seconds — netted me a live performance by Incubus on behalf of Nissan, an interview with Jay "Budweiser Select" Z for AT&T, and a live performance by Neil Diamond (Neil Diamond!) on behalf of AOL/Chevrolet.
And then there’s the fact that John Mellencamp’s label is worried that the incessant commercial spins of his patri-erotic Chevy Truck anthem "Our Country" might actually hurt his album sales. Favorite bit from the recent Wall Street Journal article: "A commercial-length excerpt of a song may not allow listeners to appreciate its nuances. ‘Exposure is one of the most valuable assets there is these days,’ says Universal Republic President Monte Lipman. ‘But when you hear the song in the context of a commercial, it doesn’t do it justice.’" Oh, ya think?
So I dunno really what my point is here except: Don’t you think it’spossible that we should start expecting more from our artists thantheir incessant willingness to pimp themselves out to the highestbidder? And don’t you think we, as the consumers, should get to have alittle bit of a say in what we buy… and why we buy/don’t buy it? Imean, not that I was gonna buy the Mellencamp album anyway (does ithave "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." on it?), but about halfway through theWorld Series, I decided I was never going to purchase a Chevrolet orsay the word "cougar" again, either. Maybe his label should be scared.
What do you think, kids? Any chance of us rallying together to makea change? I realize that I’m always quoting Michael Jackson in thesesituations, but really, it has to start with the man in themirror. We’ll start small: Boycott all things Pussycat Dolls untilthat wretched Heineken commercial stops running. Who’s with me?!?
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Whit – I’m for anything ANTI-Pussycrap Dolls. You rock!
But this is actually a trend in music that I have noticed. And I think there was a blog on here or an article I read somewhere about creativity in music is hindering when all the artist is concerned with is if the song their recording will make a good ringtone.
Things like ringtones are – in my humble opinion – just a means of an alternative form of creative expressions. But only in the way that one is creating ringtones to be ringtones – a la Pepsi Ringtones last summer by key artists – and NOT actual album material that simply has potential to be a ringtone. This was the last major step in that direction, made poignant by the fact that Billboard Magazine started tracking the SALE of these little creatures.
And now we’re talking about film. Its funny that you mention Three Six Mafia when you talk about how film is changing the music world. Three Six Mafia’s Oscar win pretty much solidified the trend that had artists CLAMMERING for a movie-song deal. Look at Beyonce. She breaks character to sing a song she cowrote when that type of song is not really a song her character would have recorded in “Dreamgirls”. But it was the filmmakers way to cater to a young girl’s desire to follow in Three Six Mafia’s footsteps and bring home an Oscar, when her own role is grossly overshadowed by minor characters. But we can also look beyond this. Usual movie-music artists like Randy Newman are going by the wayside because it’s cooler to award a popular hip-hop artist like Eminem. When other artists see that they to can do the same – never mind the unfortunate slight that people like Martin Scorsese or Robert Altman have gone entire CAREERS as brilliant filmmakers never getting an Oscar – they wish to follow.
The next thing to look at is television. A gross overpromotional tool when you see songs you would normally like under normal self-discovery methods – like word of mouth, or illegal downloads, HA! – as the montage song in a Grey’s Anatomy episode. Remeber the good old days when an unknown band would perform LIVE in a bar scene of say, a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Charmed” episode. Now it’s just common practice – as EW’s Dalton Ross pointed out a few months ago – for writers to be lazy in TV to make room for a hot song.
Lastly, I remember the good old days when it was considered a sell-out move when an artists allowed their music to promote a popular product in a commercial. Yet you see the Pussycrap Dolls, and even my girl Mariah (*sniff*) promoting Beer and computer technology.
I, like Jewel, have noticed all these degenerations in the music industry. We’re just one step away from the Cast of “High School Musical” stepping into our tv screens to sing us the glories of using Midol and Charmin toilet paper, and that prospect is more than just deeply disturbing.
If MTV and Vh1 hadn’t dedicated their sold souls to reality tv a decade ago, we wouldn’t have this problem. The reason Jewel has to prommote her songs on (yikes) The Young and the Restless is because Danny Bonaduce and Flava Flav rule what used to be the “music” networks. Sad. Sad for viewers, sad for artists.
The single has always been prevelant, now with iTunes and other like sites, there is even more power in the single, which is I feel part of the problem…it is a layer in the television/film music world. Songs in ads, well, that has been going on for a long time it feels. And it does not always hurt or is viewed as a negative. I think of Moby when “Play” came out, he sold out yes, but by selling the songs for commercial use, his record sales soared.
Why does everybody hate on Celine?! Her voice is like the 8th wonder of the world.
As Bill Simmons would say “This is ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur country!”
Not that Mellencamp was ever a favorite of mine, but his Chevy song makes me angry and frustrated. The original commercial had this uber-patriotic song playing along images of 9-11 and the like all the while hocking Chevy trucks! Mellencamp should be ashamed. Everyone is doing it, even if they’re dead. I knew the end was near when Nick Drake was selling Volkswagon.
I blame it on the industry. Too many of us consumers got charmed into buying full length albums that sounded nothing like the singles, which they’d often not sell as singles. Smashmouth’s first album, and that album with the song “fly” attest to this.
So, rather than purchase an entire album, consumers opt to purchase one song. Given how hot sales of those “NOW” cds have been and downloaded signles, there must be something to this.
Funny, but there doesn’t seem to be much mention of how video game soundtracks have become the new hotbed for bands. Jet Grind Radio got me into several bands, andI read that having a song on the latest “Madden” game is a near guarantee of an album’s success.
Have to say this much: if it hadn’t been for Target and whatever phone company does this, I never would have gotten into Goldfrapp, and Goldfrapp’s fast become a favorite artist of mine. I may not buy what’s being sold by the advertsers, but if I like the song (even 30 seconds of it) then I’ll go buy the CD, or at least the single.
Cliff most hit the nail on the head, the main reason a lot of artists have to resort to this kind of thing is MTV and VH1 don’t bother with playing music anymore. Corporate radio doesn’t help artists out either, unless you are one of the three bands that they are stuck on that month.
If the only place I can hear a Postal Service or Flaming Lips song (aside from my cd player) is on a commercial, then that is fine by me, at least someone talented is getting a paycheck that way.
While I too tire of TV shows shamelessly inserting the latest Coldplay or Snow Patrol song into every episode, I agree that until the music industry comes to terms with the fact that corporate radio, and the lack of actual music on music television channels, is killing the industry, artists are going to have to continue to turn to these alternate means to get their songs heard. And if it takes a commercial to turn someone on to Goldfrapp, so, be it.
As far as the single versus album debate, I say a singles driven market actually increases the diversity of music released. When I was younger and singles were popular, I would never buy an album until an artist released at least two songs I liked from their album. So, artists had to make more than one good song to get people (at least me) to buy an album. Then the music industry began to abandon singles (because they “cannibalize” album sales) and artists only needed to make one good song and put it on an album full of fillers and crap. Since albums were the only format available, this forced people to spend $18 to get the one song they wanted.
Arguably, this led to illegal downloading in the first place. I think since legal downloading has finally hit the mainstream, the quality, and quantity, of music released has actually increased.
Amen, Scotty.
Gang, get over it. This is music, and they have a product to sell. This notion of ’selling out’ by doing a commerical with their song is laughable. It’s big business and always has been. And with CD sales declining, expect more of it.
And by the way, Whit, I like you a lot, but please don’t call yourself a music fan like the rest of us. You get paid to write about music; therefore you are not a fan. I hate it when critics do that.
Hey I like Jewel, but didn’t she sell herself out as well, with that ‘Intuition’ razor commercial?
Hey I like Jewel, but didn’t she sell herself out as well, with that ‘Intuition’ razor commercial?
You’re right, angela – I was waiting for someone to point this fact out. I seem to have a hard time feeling bad for someone who not only went down the pop princess route to try to make a few $$, but also featured her first single released in several years on a razor ad. Call me insensitive…
If the industry would stop shoving their idea of music stars down out throat (blonde, dumb, talentless) and and gave more attention to music with actual talent, music wouldn’t be in dire staits and outlets like Tower wouldn’t close.
As for Jewel, I was never a fan of hers and she did sell her soul when she tried to be Britney and sell some stupid razors.
What is sad is the way the young kids are interpreting songs..my young niece doesn’t even realize songs in commercials are original songs from an artist/group. She hums along to the song and thinks the song is really about Tide or Chevy or whatever the ad is selling. The advertisers are winning, but the artist loses in the end as their music becomes known only as “that song in the _____ commercial” to these kids!
This trend is not going away anytime soon. Its sad in some senses, but its undeniable that in order to ensure ratings in television series, and as well as driving audiences back to theaters, more and more studios are hiring tastemakers, who have a keen ear for whats hot or will be hot, rather than just hiring you’re typical Music consultant.
When Grey’s Anatomy first featured The Fray’s “How To Save a Life” last spring, Epic was still in the process of breaking “Cable Car” with actual support from Vh1, but little to no airplay on Mtv, if at all. HOWEVER, this was not the first licensing deal of “How To Save a Life”, that honor goes to HBO for their commercials featuring the track in its near entirety over a montage of their own original hit series which included The Sopranos and Big Love. Coincidentially, The Fray’s single, rocketed up the iTunes chart, and subsequentially, the Billboard charts, where “How To Save a Life” has been entrenched in both top 10s ever since. The album has also been a consistent best seller on the Billboard 200. Now, in this day in age, when breaking new artists, espeically with the minimal number of alternative stations in the country, do you think anyone at Sony and Epic are complaining?! HELL NO. They’re just wondering when and where to license the Fray’s follow-up single, “Look After You”, which is set to be released in 2 weeks! I mean in many cases, it is over saturation in many cases, but in this one I would think its really genius and pure luck.
The whole music in commercials thing used to be cool–back when advertisers used a little-known (or unknown) gem that really illustrated the product or contributed to the mood of the ad, but now it’s shameless. However, I have to agree that VH1 and MTV have forsaken music almost entirely, so it’s hard to get new artists out there. My biggest problem is with context: sometimes the song really doesn’t fit what the advertisers had in mind; for example, Tommy Hilfiger using Creedence’s very anti-war “Fortunate Son” for an “all-American” jeans ad. Just because the song said, “some folks are born to wave the flag…” Apparently, somebody in marketing didn’t listen to the rest of the words, which really aren’t what they had in mind. And using the Cure’s “Photograph” in a digital printer ad? I always thought the person he was singing about was dead or the relationship had broken up and all that was left were the pictures. Damn, makes me wanna rush out and buy stuff.
The Diamond Industry has a commercial out with a female singing, “What are you doing with the rest of your life?” Who is the artist, and where can I buy (as in purchase) her music?
she is beautiful
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