Musician Moby might be accused of being a sell-out, but he's certainly no fool. Tired of having his music knocked back by radio and television stations, he opted to sell nearly every track on his 1999 album Play to advertisers, TV shows and movie producers.
A decade ago, many musicians would have considered the move akin to selling out to the devil. But Moby's album went on to sell more than 10 million copies, and achieved platinum record sales in more than 25 countries. If he's a sell-out, he's a hugely successful sell-out. Today, a lot of musicians are happy to sell their music commercially. Australian band Jet sold its single "Are you gonna be my girl?" to iPod and Vodafone to pay off debts to its record company. It turned out to be a canny move - after appearing in TVCs for both brands, the band gained international exposure and increased record sales. "There's been a turnaround in attitudes towards selling music for advertising. Television is a very powerful medium, it can generate wonderful exposure for artists and it's also a great source of revenue," says Norman Parkhill, Sydney GM at Mana Music, which claims to operate the largest music licensing operation in Australia and New Zealand. "The whole record business has been in decline for many years now, so [licensing] is an increasingly important revenue stream. Record labels are more aware of it, and they're better at seeking new opportunities," he says. The market is more advanced in the US and UK, where record companies provide music to advertisers free of charge if the band's logo or watermark appears in the TVC. Record labels are also pushing to have their artists star in TV commercials to give them more visibility. A campaign for Reebok in the US starring rapper Jay-Z not only helped to tie the brand to black American consumers, but also led to sellout sales around the country. In addition to collecting an appearance fee, Jay-Z collaborated with Reebok designers to design his own shoe. Most Australian marketers can't afford to license major international artists, but demand for licensing local artists or older tracks is booming. "Publishers and record labels are becoming very aggressive [at marketing their artists]. There's been a reversal in the last few years - music in advertising used to be seen as a sellout, these days it's an opportunity," says Brian Beamish, executive creative director at Beamo, which operates a music licensing division in addition to its post-production and composition arms. Angela Glaister established her company Soundsauce in mid-2004 in response to growing demand for licensed music from advertisers, especially in the automotive and telecommunications categories. "With so many ads on TV you can get cut-through by using a song that's quirky or obscure - it doesn't have to be modern, it's about finding a song to make your ad stand out." A study by the University of Cincinnati found that 98% of people have had songs - or "earworms" - stuck in their head, the worst culprits in 2003 being "Who let the dogs out", "YMCA" and "Whoop, there it is". The most catchy songs are those with lyrics, followed by commercial jingles, according to the study. In other words, music has the power to infiltrate people's heads - a useful tool for advertisers. "An old song can provide recall - you unconsciously think of the product when you hear the song. These campaigns can run for years, whereas modern tracks usually suit short-term campaigns, they provide cut-through rather than branding," Glaister says. It costs anywhere from $200 to $2 million to license an existing track, so licensing companies are popping up to help agencies negotiate better deals with record labels and artists. Soundsauce, for example, was responsible for placing Transvision Vamp's "Baby I don't care" in a recent TVC for Bonds, and a rerecording of Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way" in a Vodafone TVC. Meanwhile, record companies are doing more to grow their licensing revenue. "People aren't buying CDs anymore, so over the past five years record companies started realising how good licensing is as a new source of revenue," Glaister says. "They also realised they had to look at other ways to promote their artists."
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