A Music-In-Advertising Rant

[celebrity]

As a babyboomer, one thing I absolutely hate is hearing 30-year-old songs being presented by Madison Avenue as 'new' or relevantly still-hot.

-Just because the song's statute-of-copyrite-limitations ran out.

Yesterday, I saw a commercial that featured The Cars' Let's Go, and I immediately hit-the-ceiling...  mostly because the song-riffs were emphasized so out-front that I didn't even pay-attention-to what product the ad-firm was pimping.  -Which is a major Advertising-101 no-no.

I can't begin to count the number of my fave songs that commercial-advertising has ruined, or burnt-to-a-crisp.  Especially when they're allowed to obtain 'parts of songs', so the same song can be used to push two different products.  Last year, early Who songs were allowed to be used in the US, and Madison Avenue has been falling-all-over-itself scrambling to jam parts of Who-songs at us.  As Paul's grandfather in A Hard Day's Night says...  " Diss gustin'. "

I wish advertising-firms would get-back-to creating original jingles/fugues
/toccatta's/etc. for commercials than Lovecraftianly reanimating a graveyard-showcase of ancient pop-songs for re-butchering.

[coacheric]

Interesting thread post that never got comments. Seeing this day and age of music in everything, would love to know peoples take on this. I know there was a van commercial with Judas Priest song in it. Then you have all the KIA commercials with the hamsters. HELL, the music is a bigger part of them than the car itself.

I know there are a lot more, some do bother me more than others and agree with the OP that the OLD 30+ year songs just seem wrong to me. Nothing like screwing over the bands...again.

[MissBarbara]

There's nothing like responding to a post five years after the fact, but this ties in with what I wrote about Beatles covers a couple of days ago.

This poster speaks for many who seem to feel that Classic Rock songs are sacred, and that their use in advertising is the gravest sacrilige.

I say: nonsense. I'm not an expert in the legal side of music publishing and performance rights, but I know enough to point out that every one of those songs was licensed, and therefore its specific use was approved by the artist, the artist's representative, or whomever else holds the copyright.

By the way, Eric, it was those Kia Soul commericials with the hamseters that turned me on to one of my new favorite bands, The Black Sheep.

[coacheric]

I think there was an LMFAO song used also for one of them.

As for bringing back a five year old thread, this question seems even more to current times now. Music in advertising is hue now. New bands, old bands, never heard of them bands along with DJ's. Microsoft commercials are a prime standout. Really, how many of us had ever heard of Alex Clare before the commercial?? Now this song is played on a few different channels around here and from the pop top to the easy listening channel.

Alex Clare - Too Close (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXjLbMZFmo