Going commercial
So this has been around a minute, but I really like the song in this Geico commercial:
I liked it so much so that I was inspired to look up the original (which is by Royksopp, a Norwegian electronica group that released their debut album in 2002).
Which got me thinking about pop songs in commercials. It's been said that in this day and age, there is no such thing as selling out. Which I may or may not agree with. I have found a few bands I like by seeking them out after hearing them in the commercial -- The Walkmen after Saturn used "We've Been Had," and Nick Drake (I am incredibly embarrassed to admit) after those Volkswagon commercials. But the Outback Steakhouse adaptation of Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" is just dreadful. Listen to the original.
In the end, I'm ambivalent. It's nice for musicians to get exposure (and money), but it's incredibly annoying when a big corporation ruins one of your favorite song (by tampering with it or overexposure). Not to mention the pain caused to rock snobs everywhere when the unwashed masses become fans of a good band. I don't even want to talk about those drunk girls shrieking along to The Shins' "Know Your Onion" at the bar last Thursday night.
It's not a new argument, I know. Art and commerce have been inextricably linked since the Medici's patronized Michelangelo. But with the state of the music distribution industry as it is, maybe we should be a little wary replacing the old model with a system of corporate sponsorship (if the only money to be made is by selling your song to a commercial). Because, to be honest, I don't want my listening-to-music-time underscored with subliminal reminders that I should be out shopping.
-- Emily Hulme, www.amNY.com
