Another day, another car advert

[Lost Soul]

This time it's April March that's sells her soul to the Devil by letting Chick Habit advertise Renault.

Far from encouraging me to buy it car, it discourages me from buying any more April March records.

I much prefer it when consumerism is aided and abetted by MTV dross as buying shit and listening to shit should go gland in hand.

[kopper]

What? I *LOVE* hearing music like this on car ads! Means the artists are actually (hopefully) getting paid for once. And wouldn't you rather hear good music like this on ads then some crappy mall band or other horseshit? The more exposure this music gets, the better it is for EVERYBODY.

[Lost Soul]

There's a whole can o' worms around here somewere... but in a nutshell, no I don't agree that the more exposure good music gets, the better. I think it eventually get distilled, devalued and destroyed.
That's not me pretending to be some 'scenester' living in are rarefied world of underground unknowns; it just happens that (generally) the more popular music is, the worse it is.
Sure, it's good for bands we like to get paid well; so long as the motive for making the music doesn't turn to the purely monetary. Then it's MTV time.

[kopper]

If it gets distilled, just don't listen to it anymore! In the meantime, do all you can to get your music heard. And if you can be like April and actually make money doing it, then by all means, do it! Why the hell not?

By the way, 2 things that I think you're forgetting here:

1) The choice to use her song in the ad was probably the label's, not hers. Ad agencies contact the label's publicist usually to get rights to use a certain song. And in most instances, the artist signed those decisions away when they signed with the label (in this case, SFTRI).

2) If the song in question is her cover of "Chick Habit" (which is by far April's most popular song) then it's not hers to sell, anyway. It's a cover of a '60s song by France Gall, so the royalties would be going to Gall, not March. And it was already used in a Quentin Tarantino film, anyway. But even if it was her song to sell, is it OK if you "sell out" to a filmmaker, but not an ad agency? Where do you draw the line?

And I personally don't care what an artist does with their own music. If they want to sell it, fine! Sell it to the highest bidder! Doesn't mean I can't enjoy listening to it. I just think that too often we get the idea in our heads that this is somehow "our" music and the mainstream world can't have it, just because it usually gets ignored or passed over. Which is really a stupid thing to think. It's their decision to sell it, not mine. They were the creator of their art, and therefor they have the right to do whatever the hell they want with it. And that's the way it SHOULD be.

Yeah, talk about a can of worms...

[Lost Soul]

Artists can indeed do what they want with their music (at least whoever the artist signed their life away to can) and I wouldn't dispute that. We can then judge their artistic integrity as we see fit and appreciate them accordingly. If someone does a killer track and then it's used to advertise Uzis for Scientologists, then it ceases to appeal to me (Uzis against Scientologists would be a different matter).

I certainly don't agree that the view that certain types of music are our music is "stupid" though. If I wasn't a talentless fuckwit and could actually produce music I would want it listened to by the kind of people that frequent this forum- the kind of people that like what they like because they like it, not because it's 'cool' or 'popular'. I wouldn't want it to grace the ears of unimaginitive, Abercrombie and Fitch wearing shitstains just because they happened to tune into some commercial-heavy channel featuring an ad for cars, tampons or spray-on cheese.

[Andy Seven]

Rather listen to her than "What I Like About You" for the millionth time. Fucking Romantics.

[Lucky La Rocka]

If your'e an artist with a shred of dignity & principal & indeed soul, then you won't sell out . Yes lots of artists sellout when the lure of big money comes calling , which is totally up to them ( & if they signed away their 'rights' to their own creations, & it's used for shit , then it's their own stupid fault ) , however when talking about the kind of music members of this forum listen to that gets used in this commercial manner , they usually get paid & then it's "fuck you very much , that fad is over , off you go back to relative obscurity" & the artist is left knowing that they sold their soul to the corporate devil for a song (pardon the pun ) , & the punters know this too.
I respect TOM WAITS , he sued the arse off somebody who while not using his song in an ad, copied his style ...he won the case on 'appropriation of style'!

STITCH THAT YOU CORPORATE BLOODSUCKERS!

[Lucky La Rocka]

..also , there IS a difference between something being used for a movie or a car advert .

If i was a musician & Quentin Tarantino or his production company came & asked me for permission to use my music in a film i would take a look at the project & consider it on it's merits & with it most probably being pretty cool, accept .
If some minion from a huge car company came to me asking for permission to use my music to advertise YET ANOTHER ugly new car that this planet simply does not need , i would ask him to leave quickly before i was tempted to beat him to death with a tuna fish !

Money is not the issue , it's whether you can hold your head up & say you stayed true to your beliefs .

[Andy Seven]

As a musician I would sell my song for an advertisement because it would reach millions of people. One doesn't write songs so only a select 50 will enjoy it, you want everybody to hear your stuff.
If commercial radio won't touch my music with a 10-ft. pole and I play night after night to only 30 guys who say, "Dude, you rule", you bet your ass I'm going to sign up for a guarantee that my song will be heard by millions. I don't consider it whoring out, at all.
And by the way, this is an ad for Renault, a pretty swanky piece of iron. Not a shabby product at all.

[Lucky La Rocka]

With regard about your comment about 'a select 50 people' ...It's not about being elitist or 'keeping it real' so to speak ....I suppose it all boils down to personal principals (something not a lot of people have these days , not ones they'd stick to anyway ).
Spreading the word to the masses with your music in order to gain world domination is fine but do it on your own terms not on the back of a fucking car advert .
As for a renault being a swanky piece of iron , i'll have to agree to disagree . ?;0)

[Andy Seven]

Here's a partial list of artists who've "sold out"...

Go to the store and get Great Shakes (The Yardbirds)

Taste that beats the others cold, Pepsi pours it on (The Turtles)

Coke after Coke after Coke after Coke (The Who)

Judge from Pontiac GTO (Paul Revere and The Raiders)

Not a bad group to be condemned with, thank you.