This is the new mantra of all bands, musicians and singer-songwriters. With the crashing of the record label structures, bands have realized they can make much more money and get more airtime via an ad. Witness iTunes ads with Jet, Ozomatli, etc. Or Mitsubishi who singlehandedly created Dirty Vegas as a number 1 hit a few years back.
This week’s Crains New York business has an article about this. 2 telling quotes.
“My quest is to create a hit record through an ad, with no middleman,” says Josh Rabinowitz, director of music for Grey Worldwide.
“More than 30% of music used in commercials today is licensed, compared with 5% just five years ago,” says JSM Music’s Joel Simon.
Needless to say, this has made the environment much more open to film licensing as well.