Spent today at the excellent Boards Summit, an advertising industry conference in NYC.
It used to be that putting your song in an ad was sellling out.
In the old days, you used to start bidding at $1 million dollars and go way up to get any song of note from a well-known recording artist into a commercial. Nowadays, new bands are giving free access to advertisers to get the free media blitz and the resultant number one record.
Mitsubishi did this several years ago with a little known electronica band called Dirty Vegas which launched on the back of a car commercial. Then they went on to sell 2 million records, win a Grammy and then return to complete obscurity. All because some Agency creative chose them for inclusion in their spot. It could have been just about any track!
Possibly the only recording artist left in the world who doesn’t want to sell out is John Densmore (the drummer) of the Doors.
Even with $15 millionbeing offered from Cadillac (For Break on Through) and reportedly up to $4 Million from Apple, he voted no to the anguish of the other 2 surviving members.
Filmmakers take note: you can get a big song in your film, if you can bring exposure, marketing and tie-ins to the table. More on this later.