Shit, I love that song.

I felt like that when Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now" was used in a Chevy truck ad. Chevy decided to stop using Bob Seger's "Like A Rock" because they thought it sounded like "Like Iraq". Morons.

I share your pain, LT.

Steve Earle, too?!?! NO!!!

Sorry, to hear about both of these actually. It's a tough call since musicians often don't get shit moneywise for so long that I can begin to understand some of the reasons for licensing; and yet, and yet, it always stings when it happens with a song or artist who's music has made its own connection with me (that prior to the moment had no association with the selling of a product, cynic: other than itself of course).

told you i would smite you.

Steve Earle has an expensive new wife. The emerald jewelry and the Beemer cost a lot of money.

There was a NYT piece about this not long ago. There are two factors. One is that the advertising world is increasingly full of youngish people of an indie/hipster bent, who have found success translating their own musical tastes in obscure bands into a desirable image. The second is that record deals are now much less lucrative and harder to get than they were, say, ten years ago. So band promoters and managers are often actively interested in getting a band's work into commercials. They're seeking it out, not avoiding it.

Hey, notice how I said "...not long ago?" Well, I found the piece, and it's from 2001. Time is flying.

Also, for relatively obscure bands, endorsement deals can help fund keeping the band alive while avoiding day jobs. Three of my favorite bands, The Muffs, The Long Ryders, and The Bell Rays have all accepted deals and as marginal record-sellers, I can't really hold it against them. People who get all Billy Jack about this issue need to find important things to get upset about.

didn't it just make news when a band actually said no to a commercial deal?

and didn't Moby license every single song from an album even before it was released?

For me, the moment of despair was the Hyundai SUV ad:

A big, evergreen-forested hill beckons from the foreground of a pristine landscape. Suddenly a giant, rolled-up red carpet falls from the sky, lands on top of the hill, and unrolls down in toward the camera. An ugly-ass Hyundai then drives up the red carpet to the ear-shattering intro of Voodoo Child.

"Well I stand up next to a mountain....!"

I died that day.

People who get all Billy Jack about this issue need to find important things to get upset about.

JON - what would you think if the Boss's catalog was bought by some stupid car company or chain store?

Sure, there are more important things to get pissed about, but it still sucks.

A big, evergreen-forested hill beckons from the foreground of a pristine landscape. Suddenly a giant, rolled-up red carpet falls from the sky, lands on top of the hill, and unrolls down in toward the camera. An ugly-ass Hyundai then drives up the red carpet to the ear-shattering intro of Voodoo Child.

"Well I stand up next to a mountain....!"

I died that day.

Word, scarbic. My response to this ad prompted a quick discussion on Why Mom is Yelling at the TV, with digressions into Hendrix 101.

Forgiving a new, small band for needing to pay the rent is one thing.

Seeing a long-beloved icon used for shilling is quite another.

For a new band whose song is relatively unknown, the commercial can even be a way for them to get their music more out there. There is a line crossed, however, past which the commercial is just tapping into the already-well-established song and milking it for commercial value. That's where it hurts: when you already have associations with the music.

lol jokeefe!

I enjoy the music and ignore the product.

Besides, everything is commerce, n'est pas?

If a song's personal importance to you can be lessened by it appearing in a commercial, then it didn't mean that much to you in the first place. Many of my favorite songs have appeared in commercials and I don't love them any less. The songs that are tied to specific memories or times in my life still hold special feeling for me despite being co-opted by advertisiers hoping to latch onto those same feelings in me. Nobody can ever take that away from me, no matter what size ad spend they have.

I don't understand how people can get so worked up over this kind of stuff. As long as the artist and/or primaries of the band endorse the use (and are compensated accordingly) I have no complaints. I do feel sorry for the artists that have no control over their recorded legacy and how their music is used, but that's not the same as being miffed that Leo Burnett decided that a Moby song can sell luxery cars.

Besides, everything is commerce, n'est pas?

OUCH. Not only is that cynical as fuck, but it's cynical in two languages.

it's called "cynic deux". :P

People who get all Billy Jack about this issue need to find important things to get upset about.

If a song's personal importance to you can be lessened by it appearing in a commercial, then it didn't mean that much to you in the first place.

I agree with these comments. Everything I wanna say's been said.

What The Muffs song was in a commercial? I love me some Kim Shattuck.

For anyone that doesn't understand why this is bound to keep happening... Nation of Rebels

I read that book, Drezdn, and didn't like it at all. Which, gauging by my start of this thread, is entirely obvious.

By the way, not only have the Dandy's shilled for Pontiac, today also saw Mercury Rev doing same. Which makes the whole point of this thread go from REALLY BAD to HIDEOUS.