Music In Advertising
by Sheldon Rocha Leal
There are many ways to make a living in the music industry, but if one is both the performer and creator of the content one performes, those opportunities are exponentially improved. The revenue streams from which recording artists can generate an income can include recording royalties, endorsement deals, live performance money, merchandising and master recording fees. Within the publishing world the revenue can emanate from public performance royalties, transcription, mechanical licenses, and translation licenses, as well as printed music royalties.
For the purposes of this article I want to focus specifically on Synchronization licenses, as they pertain to advertising. In recent years songwriters have made a lot of money licensing their music for various platforms, including gaming, but in this article the focus will be on advertising. Over the years many mega deals have been struck to feature iconic songs in adverts, with advertisers keenly aware of the power of music and how it can harnessed to draw consumers to products. In early history the power of music was harnessed in a similar fashion by governments and religion to spread their message or propaganda.
Appealing to a customers sense of nostalgia is a very clever and subliminal way to get consumers to purchase one’s product. It is one of the strategies cleverly employed in Hip-Hop, through sampling, which resulted in the world domination of the genre in the late 1990s and a time honoured tradition in advertising. Some brands do not want to spend the big money to license well known songs for their promotional campaigns and that is when “sound alikes” are created. Yet other companies are willing to put their money with their mouths are, by paying exorbitant fees to purchase the sync licenses required to use these iconic songs and have been duly rewarded for their investments.
For the purposes of this article I’m going to focus on 5 mega music deals, which have resulted in the use of iconic songs in commercials and sometimes have even featured the stars of those songs themselves. Here we go…
Elvis Presley: A Little Less Conversation, 2002 ($200,000) (Nike)
“A Little Less Conversation” was originally recorded in 1968 and was included on Elvis’ 28th motion picture “Live A Little, Love A Little”. It was eventually released as part of a budget compilation album titled “Almost In Love” in 1970 and was, therefore, not a well known Presley song. In 2001 Nike executives in Holland were contemplating which song to use in an upcoming advertising campaign, which would coincide with the FIFA World Cup in 2002. The campaign was to be the company’s largest global campaign to date and the concept for the advertisement would feature the world’s most historically famous soccer players playing in a secret match.
The executives decided to go watch “Ocean’s Eleven” after one of their meetings and the little known Presley song was featured in the movie. They collectively decided that the song was perfect for the campaign and a process was initiated whereby contact was made with the Elvis Presley estate to procure the rights for the use of the song in the campaign. The initial asking price was $1.5million, which would be split between the Elvis Presley estate, recording company (RCA) and publishing company. Fortunately for Nike, RCA had the intention of releasing a special Elvis Presley compilation album in September 2002 featuring all his number 1 singles, “Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits”. RCA, after being nudged by one of its executives, made a calculated move, realising that the use of the song in a global advertising campaign in March 2002, could articulate into mega sales of their upcoming compilation. The rights to use the song were, therefore, sold to Nike for $200,000.
This calculated move resulted in major income generation for the Elvis Presley Estate, publishing company and RCA. The song became Elvis Presley’s record breaking 18th No1 in the U.K., it also peaked at No1 in 10 other countries and shipped nearly 2million singles worldwide. The album was Presley’s first album to debut at No1 in the USA, peaked at No1 in 17 countries and shipped over 4.7million units in its opening week and 11million in total, making it a certifiable international smash hit.
The Beatles: Revolution, 1987 ($500,000) (Nike)
“Revolution” was released in the latter part of the Beatles’ recording career, about 2 years before they finally broke up, and was featured on their iconic LP “The White Album”. Although the album exposed some of the cracks that resulted in the demise of the band, it was a major hit, peaking at No1 in the USA, U.K. and various other countries and shipped 24million units in the USA alone. “Revolution” was released as the B-side for the highly popular single “Hey Jude” which peaked at No1 in the USA, U.K. and 13 other countries and eventually shipped over 8million units worldwide. In the USA it charted separately at No12 on the US Billboard Hot100.
In 1987 Nike was in the process of revamping their advertising, with the aim of attempting to become the No1 sports shoe manufacturer in the world, a distinction held by Reebok at the time. They wanted to use the Air Jordan’s, which had been launched a few years earlier in 1985, as the centrepiece of their campaign and the Beatles’ song “Revolution”. The Beatles were, however, not very interested in allowing their songs to be used in commercials, especially after “Help!” had been dismally used in Ford Lincoln-Mercury advertisement in 1985. But it was not up to them, as Michael Jackson had bought the rights in the song, along with 200 other Beatles’ tracks in 1985 for $47.5million. Michael Jackson agreed to grant permission for the use of the song and Capitol granted a license for the use of the master recording for a period of a year and a deal was struck for $500,000, shared between Michael and Capitol.
The three remaining members of The Beatles (George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr) were not happy about the situation and instituted legal proceedings against Nike. In March 1988 Nike decided to stop airing commercials featuring the song and two years after proceedings had been instituted the case was settled out of court. Part of the deal was that the terms of the settlement would not be disclosed publicly. In the long run not only did the commercials help sell loads of Nike sneakers, it also helped introduced the Beatles to a new generation of music listener, with the song often being played at high school socials at the time.
The Rolling Stones: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, 1990 ($4million) (Snickers)
The song was written on the 7th of May 1965, when Keith Richards woke up at the Gulf Motel in Clearwater, Florida, in the middle of the night with a melody in his head. He quickly scrambled for his guitar and dictaphone and recorded the melody and went back to sleep. The song was eventually released on the 5th of June 1965 and was included on the “Out of Our Heads” album, which peaked at No1 in the USA and shipped over 1million units in the country alone. The single became a signature Rolling Stones song and peaked at No1 in the USA, U.K. and 7 other countries, which was quite a feat at a time when the global network was not as formalised as it is today. It went on to ship over 2million units worldwide and has been covered by various artists.
Unlike the previous two songs, this Rolling Stones track was not a long forgotten hit, it was and still is a signature number, which the band perform regularly. Therefore, to obtain the rights to this song was always going to be pricey. In 1990 the Rolling Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein (who also managed the Beatles for a short period of time in the late 1960s), signed a deal with Snickers to feature the song in a television commercial for $4million. Mick Jagger and Keith Richard kept $2.8million (as they are the main songwriters) of the proceeds, whilst the rest was kept by their manager and publishing company (one and the same). Why the publishing company? Because the rights were just for the use of the song, Synchronisation license, and not for the use of the master recording, as the company hired a band to play the song.
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were initially not interested in signing the deal, but the confectionary company, whose tagline was “Snickers Satisfies”, desperately wanted to use the song. Allen Klein, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger felt that this was a deal they could not turn down and relented. The band were one of the first major acts to sign a mega deal for the rights to use one of their songs in a commercial. It’s quite odd that the company would want to use a song that speaks about sexual frustration for their confectionary commercial, but they were insistent. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was just the tip of the iceberg for The Stones: the band had been working with advertisers since the 1960s. In 1965 they were commissioned to write a song for a Rice Krispies commercial. Unlike “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that song was written especially for the Kellogg’s advertisement.
Madonna: Like A Prayer, 1989 ($5million) (Pepsi)
In 1989 Madonna was on the precipice of releasing her much anticipated fourth studio album, “Like A Prayer”. Her third album, “True Blue”, released in 1986, was her biggest selling studio album, having shipped over 25million units worldwide, spawning 3 No1 singles. Her star had been rising incrementally since the release of her debut album in 1983 and “Like A Prayer” was much anticipated, after a 3 year break between releases. Pepsi understood the value of co-opting the mega-star for their campaign and approached her with the idea of using the title single from her album in an Pepsi commercial.
The “Like A Prayer” album was originally touted for a February release, but after negotiations with Pepsi were concluded a decision was made to move it to March to coincide with the debut of the Pepsi commercial. The deal was valued at $10million and would not only include the use of the “Like A Prayer” song, but would feature Madonna as the star of the commercial, over which she had full creative control (unusual at the time). Pepsi would also sponsor the tour that would be used to promote the album. Madonna became the first mainstream artist to launch a single in a promotional campaign, before its official release to radio and MTV. Teasers for the advert aired a week before the launch. The commercial titled “Make A Wish” debuted on NBC on the 2nd of March 1989, during an episode of The Cosby Show, a day before the launch of the official music video, and was watched by 250million people in 40 counties. It only ran for 1 day…
The problems arose the next day with the official release of the music video on MTV. Images of Madonna standing in front of burning crosses, with stigmata and making out with a black Saint was too much for some, resulting in an outcry. Consumers threatened to boycott Pepsi and the company was forced to pull the advert, but Madonna kept $5million of the initial endorsement and converted the momentum surrounding the controversy into major financial reward. Madonna preempted the entire controversy stating in a Rolling Stone article that she relished the challenge of merging art and commerce and that the music video was going to be controversial.
All the hype and publicity paid off for the Queen of Pop. The song and album, released on the 3rd and 21st of March respectively, eventually peaked at No1 in 20 countries including the USA and U.K. The single shipped over 5million units and album 15million units worldwide. According to Rolling Stone Magazine it is considered one of the Top 500 songs of all time, with critics citing it as a seminal moment in Rock history. The whole thing was a major coup for Madonna, who was lauded for her business acumen.
Bob Dylan: Things Have Changed, 2014 ($5million) (Chrysler)
“Things Have Changed” was released in 2000 and was featured on the “Wonder Boys” motion picture soundtrack. The song was not a commercial success, but managed to peak at No58 in the U.K. and No2 on the Billboard Adult Alternative chart. In 2001 it won the Academy and Golden Globe awards in the category Best Original Song written for a Motion Picture, his first awards at the ceremonies. The song was also nominated for 2 Grammy Awards, but he did not win in either.
The counterculture hero has a long history of licensing his music for commercials: 2006 “Someday Baby” for iPod; 2007 “(Instrumental)” for Cadillac XM; 2007 “Love Sick” for Victoria’s Secret; 2009 “Blowin’ In The Wind” for the Co-Operative Group; 2009 “Forever Young” featuring Will.I.Am for Pepsi; 2012 “The Times They Are A-Changin’” for Brother Printers; 2013 “Forever Young” for Kohl’s. In 2014 his music appeared in two Super Bowl advertisements and he even made an appearance in one of the commercials. “I Want You” appeared in a Chobani yoghurt commercial, but the big deal revolved around the use of his song and appearance in a Chrysler advert.
In 2010 Chrysler discontinued the Sebring model range replacing it with the Chrysler 200 in 2011, in the hopes of revitalising the brand’s mid-sized sedan sales. In their first Super Bowl advert for the vehicle in 2011, featuring Eminem, the car didn’t gain much traction. Although Eminem was popular in the advert, many in the industry felt that the car featured in the commercial was just a facelifted Sebring and didn’t buy into the marketing hype. In 2014 with the redesign of the vehicle, the company decided to procure the services of an American popular culture hero, Bob Dylan, to promote the car. The company felt that this time around they had a winning combination of the right spokesperson and vehicle for the campaign. After the airing of the Super Bowl advert, interest in the vehicle grew and there was a spike in sales, reflected in 2015, from 117,000 to 177,000 units sold in the USA.
Not only did Bob Dylan’s song feature in the commercial, he also narrated and appeared in it. For his appearance he shared $5million with his publishing company, Sony/ATV, which was at the time co-owned by Michael Jackson. Many social commentators and critiques were astonished as to how a man that was considered a popular culture disruptor could sell-out to big business in the way he did, which sparked off a debate on the topic. My opinion is that one needs to do, what needs to be done to put food on the table. I don’t believe that an artist who makes money is “selling their art out”. Why should the arts not be profitable? The adverts were a success and adored by many and confused many more.
As stated earlier, there are many ways to generate an income in the music business and music creators hold the keys to the kingdom, as whoever controls the content controls the business, “content is King”. Licensing and specifically sync license deals are becoming a greater reality in the music business, as illustrated above. Music creators are licensing songs for movies, adverts, games and websites, making these types of deals very lucrative. Although the above deals are an exception and not the rule, the reality is that with recording companies not playing the role they once did and the emergence of the DIY artist, these deals are becoming more prevalent.
As illustrated above the “pulling power” of famous artists and their content, can make a difference to big businesses’ bottom line. There is, therefore, great attraction, by big business to content and celebrity even years after the initial release of a piece of music. Furthermore, it is important to highlight these various streams of income as we delve deeper into the virtual music business and the industry’s “new normal”. Artists/creators are becoming more self-reliant, entrepreneurial and this is one of the ways they are generating money in the new industry. At the end of the day, although the business relies on creative output, it is a business after all, so these matters need to be considered and studied to ensure the livelihood of millions.
