This year’s Billboard Film & TV Music Conference served up its usual flair as the industry’s informational, albeit colorful platform to discuss the role of music in film and television. The event catered to artists and composers as well as industry regulars, offering networking opportunities and panel discussions with some of the industry’s top creative minds.
Like opening day at Fenway, the standing-room only crowd for Greetings From Advertising Park: The Commercials and Music heard about the evolving relationship between advertising and musical content providers in the publishing and licensing world. Billboard rock star columnist (oh yeah, and a little side job known as SVP of Grey Advertising), Josh Rabinowitz helmed the panel. One topic of particular interest was the increasing trend and prevalence of both mainstream as well as bourgeoning Indie artist’s music being used in ads. The main thrust of the discussion hit on artists’ increasing incentive to be tied to a brand experience. Leveraging both exposure and the “discovery” aspect of commercial placement, artists are now looking towards advertising as a launch pad for their careers. Throttle up.
Our own Head of Licensing, Sean Harrison, laid witness and had these unprovoked words to say, “There seems to be a general acceptance that artists are much more comfortable licensing their music in advertising these days. The stigma once attached to ads is now a thing of the past, and more and more artists are embracing advertising as a viable part of their business model. The days of Jim Morrison blowing a gasket over a Buick ad have long since faded.”
Ad agencies are employing social media research as well as tapping into the music blogosphere to discover a different stream of new artists that are not only willing, but also anxious to fuse their craft with the consumer-driven market. The dissemination of branded musical content on a broader, more marketed scale offers artists exposure to a wider demographic as well as higher profitability. Despite all the polysyllabic words of the preceding, Harrison adds, “Ad spots are often lucrative and the financial flexibility and creative freedom it allows an artist far outweigh any antiquated misperceptions of ‘selling out’.” At the end of the day, the industry model for advertising and artist driven music is evolving into a more grassroots, organic approach at discovering talent and increasing awareness for both band and brand. Yes, that rhymed. It’s a blessing and a curse.
— Allie Krummel
Contributing Editors: Sean Harrison & Marc Caruso