Tom Waits on artists using their work in commercials

[Rickenbacker]

Yes. Some of them need the cash/ they can do what they want/ Artist sometimes doesn't have a say. But he's my hero of the month.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/t...ng_their_work/

Woodland Hills, Calif.

Thank you for your eloquent “rant” by John Densmore of The Doors on the subject of artists allowing their songs to be used in commercials [“Riders on the Storm,” July 8]. I spoke out whenever possible on the topic even before the Frito Lay case (Waits v. Frito Lay), where they used a sound-alike version of my song “Step Right Up” so convincingly that I thought it was me. Ultimately, after much trial and tribulation, we prevailed and the court determined that my voice is my property.

Songs carry emotional information and some transport us back to a poignant time, place or event in our lives. It’s no wonder a corporation would want to hitch a ride on the spell these songs cast and encourage you to buy soft drinks, underwear or automobiles while you’re in the trance. Artists who take money for ads poison and pervert their songs. It reduces them to the level of a jingle, a word that describes the sound of change in your pocket, which is what your songs become. Remember, when you sell your songs for commercials, you are selling your audience as well.

When I was a kid, if I saw an artist I admired doing a commercial, I’d think, “Too bad, he must really need the money.” But now it’s so pervasive. It’s a virus. Artists are lining up to do ads. The money and exposure are too tantalizing for most artists to decline. Corporations are hoping to hijack a culture’s memories for their product. They want an artist’s audience, credibility, good will and all the energy the songs have gathered as well as given over the years. They suck the life and meaning from the songs and impregnate them with promises of a better life with their product.

Eventually, artists will be going onstage like race-car drivers covered in hundreds of logos. John, stay pure. Your credibility, your integrity and your honor are things no company should be able to buy.

TOM WAITS

Tom Waits successfully sued Frito-Lay, Inc. in 1992 and was awarded $2.6 million in compensatory damages.

[Mister Triscuits]

It used to infuriate me to hear Sly's "Everyday People" in a car commercial. I would turn the sound off as quickly as I could because I just couldn't stand to hear it.

[spellbound]

Thanks for posting. Enjoyed reading both articles. Great to hear of at least a few artists willing to forego piles of cash at the cost of cheapening their artistry forever.

[luvyesmusic]

Personally, I can't wait to hear Ring of Fire on t.v. for a hemorrhoid commercial.

[Ken Baird]

I pretty much agree with Tom Waits--Songs used for ads cheapens the song for the most part, or even entirely. I recall Neil Young did a humourous take on this subject too with, "This Note's for You" which I thought was kind of cool at the time, but not one of his best songs!

I have to admit I liked the car ad that used Yes' "Wonderous Stories" though, because it was just so obscure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5E_W8TPXcc

But yeah, enough with the ads already---even the youtube person that posted the Yes ad has "monetized" their youtube account with an ad

[mogrooves]

"Corporations are hoping to hijack a culture’s memories for their product."

I may have to buy a Waits album. He "gets it," he knows it, he's lived it! Kudos!

[Jerjo]

I agree but I did get a charge out of the use of Rush's Fly by Night in that Volkswagen commercial.

[JKL2000]

Tom, we want to use The Piano Has Been Drinking in our new Tanqueray campaign.

Ka-Ching!

Ok, I guess not .

[Halmyre]

Waits refused the use of "Heartattack and Vine" for a jeans commercial, so the manufacturer got Screamin' Jay Hawkins to do a cover version, and Waits vetoed that as well.

As regards the Doors, I'm almost certain 'Riders on the Storm' was used in a tyre commercial in the UK. The same company also used the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs", with accompanying bondage imagery thrown in for good measure.

[JJ88]

We've had some decidedly off-the-wall songs used on TV advertisements here...the strangest one I can think of was Kak's 'Lemonaide Kid'.

'London Calling' gets dragged out all the time simply because of the triumphant intro but good grief, are people not looking at the lyrics?? It's basically 'London is finished'. See also 'Born In The USA'.

Over the years Beatles members did speak out against this as well.

[davis]

Tom makes an excellent point. so does Pete Townshend, "It's my song. I do what the fuck I like with it." I loved hearing Reverend Horton Heat's "Eat Steak" song on an ad about eating beef. they're an obscure band so I understand that they could use the money. It depends on the artist and how the song is used. I liked Bob Dylan's "Love Sick" in the 'Victoria's Secret' ad because it was so bizarre.

[ronmac]

Over the years Beatles members did speak out against this as well.

Yep, and they made sure to never sell their songs for commercials while they owned them. Unfortunately, then came Michael Jackson and Sony. The rest is tarnished history.

[davis]

I heard a few seconds of "Revolution" in an ad once and thought it was strange cause I remember there didn't seem to be any connection to whatever product it was, but I don't see many commercials since I started recording stuff.

[Gruno]

I don't care if a song gets used in a commercial. Why should it matter to me?

If the artist doesn't want it to happen, then that is their choice. If the artist lost or sold the rights to a song and then scoffs at it being used in a commercial, then that sucks for that artist, but they should have retained what they crafted in the first place.

Some of these songs in commercials brings a new audience to the music. Same goes for the games Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

[ronmac]

I heard a few seconds of "Revolution" in an ad once and thought it was strange cause I remember there didn't seem to be any connection to whatever product it was, but I don't see many commercials since I started recording stuff.

That was NIKE. I believe it was the first Beatles' song used after MJ bought the catalog.

I don't care if a song gets used in a commercial. Why should it matter to me?

If the artist doesn't want it to happen, then that is their choice. If the artist lost or sold the rights to a song and then scoffs at it being used in a commercial, then that sucks for that artist, but they should have retained what they crafted in the first place.

But, many of them were swindled out of their rights.

[Gruno]

But, many of them were swindled out of their rights.

Live and learn and move on.

[gpeccary]

Well musicians are probably lining up to sell their work to ad agencies to get noticed and get exposure because the music industry sucks ass.
I like Townsends point of view. I also wonder if Densmore was working in a convenience store if his attitude about selling a song for a shitload of cash would make a difference? Just wondering. Having a bank account with something in it relative to on with nothing i'm sure influences many a decision.

[davis]

That was NIKE. I believe it was the first Beatles' song used after MJ bought the catalog..

okay. I just remember thinking what the hell that song has to do with that product. Now I understand. nothing.

[Gruno]

okay. I just remember thinking what the hell that song has to do with that product. Now I understand. nothing.

You don't think the song goes with the visual?

http://vimeo.com/89811766

I think it works very well.

[Halmyre]

Personally, I can't wait to hear Ring of Fire on t.v. for a hemorrhoid commercial.

Not haemorrhoids, but jeans; in an advert with a cowboy squatting by a campfire and realising why a crotch rivet in a pair of jeans is not a good idea.

In fact; here be the video:



And here's the Velvet Underground:



Still on advertising matters, REM turned down Microsoft who wanted to use "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" for the Windows 95 launch. MS went for the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" instead.

[davis]

You don't think the song goes with the visual?

http://vimeo.com/89811766

I think it works very well.

I suppose it does, yes. I didn't pay much attention to the ad back then; I just heard part of a Beatles song on tv. if I had watched the ad I wouldn't have realized it was a Nike ad. I didn't know that 'swoosh' was the Nike logo until a couple of years ago.

[Rickenbacker]

I *Loved* SNL's satire of the Nike ad. It was actually that *and* poking fun of the Heaven's Gate cult suicides. Anyone remember seeing it?
Had 'Revolution' playing while showing the covered corpses in Nikes. They nailed it. Hilarious stuff.

[JKL2000]

You don't think the song goes with the visual?

http://vimeo.com/89811766

I think it works very well.

At the time, Nike epitomized conformity, as well as exploitation of the young, IMO, so no, not really.

[Rickenbacker]

"I really don't care about what Tom Waits has to say about struggling musicians trying to gain exposure in the only viable way the industry has left for them."

Cried a musician acquaintance of mine who challenged the article.

1st off, I'm not sure how much Densmore is struggling. I'd agree with regards to young, up & coming musicians though.

[Oreb]

Artists who take money for ads poison and pervert their songs. It reduces them to the level of a jingle, a word that describes the sound of change in your pocket, which is what your songs become. Remember, when you sell your songs for commercials, you are selling your audience as well.

Sorry, I think that's bullshit. It sounds good rhetorically, but it means nothing. The entire mechanism by which Waits' music has been created and released to an audience has always been - and will always be - commercial.

The backlash against advertising is nothing more than an attempt to suggest some sort of bogus integrity on the part of the writer and the song as a means of reinforcing a hip anti-commercial market: 'I'm a pure artist - the Man's got nothin' on me. If you're a rebel too, buy my stuff.'