Lately I feel like TV commercials are my new radio (you know, that thing in your car’s dash that you never seem to listen to anymore). The commercials I’ve been seeing – and more importantly, paying attention to – have been blaring the likes of some of my personal favorite artists: Ray LaMontagne, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC), Band of Horses (BOH) and a lot of Black Keys, to name a few.
For Example:
Travelers Insurance & Ray LaMontagne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M
Mitsubishi & BRMC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd3nhxPwb1g&feature=player_embedded
Cadillac and Black Keys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BnRkgb4OWU
Ford & BOH:
And thanks to technology, if I hear a song that I really like but don’t know, I simply Shazam it and it becomes my new personal favorite. I now have a playlist comprised solely of music I discovered through TV commercials. A few songs that made it on the list are:
“Home”, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
“Brand New Key” – Melanie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5s1QNfXGn4
“How you like me now” – The Heavy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJqs3D2vv4I
“Come Home” – Chappo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av4RXjZHDqE
“Sweet Disposition” – The Temper Trap
When I listen to these songs I inevitably think of the brand that introduced me to the ad–I see the commercial all over again–how’s that for building frequency?! Maybe this is because I’m an ad addict and actually like watching commercials but I think it’s the synchronicity the marketers have created between the music and other elements of the message. But this concept is nothing new; even I’ve heard about the match up between Carly Simon’s “Anticipation” and Heinz. And wasn’t it Led Zeppelin who refused for years to license their songs not only to commercials, but to movies and TV shows? Then a few years ago you hear “Rock and Roll” in Cadillac commercials.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0PiINfDxP4
As artists become more comfortable associating themselves with advertising and are less fearful about being dubbed “sell-outs,” they’ll realize by allowing advertisers to use their music, they’re provided another avenue to introduce their music to the public.
Consumers don’t want to see the normal advertising any more — they need an emotional association and music helps to bridge this gap.
So, thank you, advertisers and artists, for providing me another avenue to find out about new music…maybe now I can stop bugging Jimmy D about what new music he’s found and instead find it myself.
