GREENMUSE is a regular reader and fan contributor at antiMUSIC, the views expressed here don't necessarily reflect those of antiMUSIC or our sponsors, but we are sure you will enjoy what he has to say! 

The year is 2002, the world is possibly on the brink of widespread destruction. Our ruling class is a bunch of born again fundamentalists with an apocalypse fetish and if we are killed by a atomic bomb or wiped out by a virus, well that’s just the second coming of the Lord. But what I have to say isn’t nearly as important as that, but it’s pretty important to music fans or should be at least. Perhaps to you and me its painfully obvious, so obvious that blues clues involves more of a mystery and that my friends and neighbors is the blatant display of the marriage of corporate conglomerates and music “artists” and I use the word artists in the loosest sense of the word.

This day and age musicians are praised for letting their music be used in commercials. Critics hailed Moby’s decision to license his music to be used to hock products a brilliant move and maybe it did get his music out to a lot more people than it would have without the commercials, because lets face it in America electronica has never been too popular. To me personally hearing a song in a commercial cheapens the whole song, maybe I’m just close-minded but it sometimes comes off like the music is being prostituted. For instance, the fact that The Clash’s classic song “Should I Stay or Should I Go” is currently being used in some yuppie vodka/malt beverage commercial sickens me. Sure it was never one of my favorite songs, but I really wished they would have said no to its use in a damn commercial. Unfortunately, they may not even own the rights to it anymore, much like the all to popular use of Beatles songs in cellphone commercials. I doubt John Lennon had Cingular Wireless Communications in mind when writing “Come Together”. but since The Beatles no longer control their own publishing, their classic songs often get sold to the highest bidder to cheapen in anyway they see fit. Remember John Lennon’s cry for “Help!”? I’m sure the last thing he wanted that song to accomplish was selling hammer and nails for Home Depot. Fortunately, they still own the master recordings of their songs and guard them well, so we don’t actually hear the original Beatles songs in these ads just a cheap imitation from some studio hacks. But the fact that someone else can buy your song publishing out from under you baffles me, but I am just a simpleton. 

The worst example of this is when songs by artists who have died are used. It’s one thing for The Who to sell their music to anyone with a big enough wallet but another thing entirely when the artist who wrote the song has no say in the matter. I know Marvin Gaye must be spinning in his grave every-time his classic song of social injustice “What’s Going On” is used to sell over priced electronic products for Radio Shack. 

Like the Marvin Gaye example, my favorite commercial use of songs is where the tune is catchy but the bean counters don’t know what the song is really about. Anyone remember the early commercials for the “tigger movie”? The first few commercials used Third Eye Blind’s “semi charmed life” which seems to me to be about sex and drugs. I guess someone somewhere thought this was wrong to play to promote a kids movie and thusly was replaced with some other little tune.

The companies like nothing better than to regurgitate your favorite songs back to you. I just don’t see the logic in this. Am I going to by x product just because I like y song? I seriously doubt it. But it must work sometimes or else they wouldn’t waste the money paying Britney to hock Pepsi, I don’t care how cute they try to make her, Pepsi still sucks. Shakiras magic hips wont get me any closer to Pepsi either. But I will admit the Chilis’ commercials with N sync are kinda funny. After all who wouldn’t want to see a crate dropped onto Joey Fatone? But I don’t go there because of it, I go there because they have a kick ass country fried steak.

Will integrity ever return to popular music? Some could argue that popular music never had it to begin with. Maybe I’m just an idealist, but I like to think that it did at one time but recently like our government it’s sold to the highest bidder(with government that isn’t anything new –ed). Could a new punk like revolution be on the horizon? Something out there to knock some sense into the masses the way the Ramones or Sex Pistols did in 77? The musical landscape is prime for such a coupe; there is a large army of fans dissatisfied with the sheer amount of corporate approved "music" out there. only time will tell if things will ever change but even if they do the music is bound to be cheapened and whored out to those who have deep pockets somewhere along the lines, that never changes.
 
 

Fan Speak:
What do you think of the whores on Madison Ave using popular classic songs to sell their wares?

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