Your favorite songs used for ads.

Its been mentioned before, but the only time this really annoys me is when the song is sung by a generic artist or the words are changed to match the product. Otherwise its not a big deal to hear a song used in commercials.

I love hearing my favorite songs on the radio, on other people's ipods, and just about anywhere. It puts me in a good mood. It doesn't bother me that other people may like it too. The life of an ad is transitory anyways. Alternately, I've discovered songs from hearing them in ads, and I hunt down the title/artist and they become favorite songs.

I would cringe, probably scowl, maybe swear, if I heard a Rolling Stones song, or Jimi Hendrix riff during a commercial for toilet paper. Or How about Slim Whitman crooning about Miller Highlife?I guess it's o.k. if the song fits the product. But it irks me that some of the songs I listened to growing up and thought them monumental are now used to shill products on t.v. or the radio. Makes me feel kinda, well, hmm, oldish.

It's not as if I think of my favorite rock songs as somehow sacred, but the idea of using them to sell sneakers or cars or some other piece of shite annoys the hell out of me. I understand why the musicians do it...we do live in a capitalistic society, and I can't in all honesty say I wouldn't sell the rights to one of my treasured songs (were I, in fact, a musician with songs worth treasuring to my credit) to some corporate pirahna in suspenders and red power tie if I thought the sale was going to finance that villa in the south of France, or the purchase that car I had my eye on, or maybe just help to support my family...but I do hate hearing it when it happens, even if I don't think it compromises the integrity of the original song. The Doors have done it, the Ramones have done it, even the Stooges (!) have done it. Still...they're using the Who's "My Generation" now to sell something on the TV-news station they keep on where I work...I cringe every time I hear it. And it doesn't pr... Read more

There was an age when any artist who licensed their art for commercial purposes would be committing career suicide. If Crosby, Stills and Nash had sold the rights in 1974 to "Our House" for a Century 21 Real Estate TV spot, they would have been booed off every stage they set foot on. Vegas would be the only gig they could book. Somewhere around the time of RUN DMC commercial exploitation of your art became a form of validation that baffles me to this day. You are a nobody if you don't have a running shoe endorsement deal, clothing line, fragrance and songs running as TV ads before your second album drops. In fact some artists never do get around to that second album. They are too busy taking meetings with the VP of marketing from Sears. Ya, I'm talkin' to you Akon. It should be clarified that there is a difference between having songs placed as incidental music on the soundtrack of a hit TV show or movie and having it used as a jingle for the purpose of selling a different pr... Read more

It depends on how they do it. If they use the original version of the song, it doesn't really bother me. When they use a different artist, change the background music, and/or change the words to fit their product, I can't stand it.

I think that this only irritates me when there's a clear disconnect between the song and the brand's message. From what research I've done, this typically happens when a band doesn't maintain the rights or oversight over commercial licensing of their music, so I'll add this to the list of things I blame on music publishing companies :) A good example would be Wrangler Jeans' usage of John Fogerty's Fortunate Son in a patriotically themed adspot. For those of you unfamiliar with the song, it was a written and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival in protest to the Vietnam War. The lyrics effectively reflect this dissent and speak about privilege and hypocrisy, but Wrangler's edit job neatly avoids the punchline, and strips it of all meaning. In contrast, contemporary music used in commercials and more prolifically television shows & films have the potential to dramatically increase exposure for fledgling artists, what with the blogosphere, youtube and occasional on-screen attribut... Read more

I agree with Lena, it only annoys me when the music doesn't fit the products or the feel of the ads. There are occasions when some of the classy classical tunes are used on unclassy ads selling furnitures for example. The fitting ones can actually reenforce your like of the music. For example, the Vivaldi's 3rd movement of Spring from the 4 seasons being used for the Spence Diamond commercial actually worked out quite well. In fact I used that same music in place of the Bridal March for my own wedding. I am not sure whether the diamond commercial actually inspired my choice or I've just always liked it all along. Sometimes the commercials can make you like a song if it is well fitted. I think my favorite Christmas song is now I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas ever since the Telus commercial.