The synergy between pop music and commercials

The synergy between pop music and commercials

(approval essay topic: Gordon Todd)

Harry Broekhuijs

5-AMS-505416

course: AU5D5

SAE Amsterdam

19 November 2017

Index

Index                                                         2

Thesis                                                         3

Introduction                                                 3

History                                                         3

Psychology                                                 3

The influence of advertising on pop music 4

The influence of pop music on advertising 5

Conclusions                                                 8

Literature                                                         9

Thesis

Pop music and commercials and reinforce each other. (branding)

Pop music binds a specific target group to a product, making the product more familiar and the brand stronger, but the music is also becoming better known by continually repeating the advertising. The music is not only the means to deliver the advertising message to the target group, but the extra airplay can also make the music more popular and even grow into a hit.

Introduction

Screens increasingly control the world around us; displays of TVs, computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones and LCD advertising screens.

Most of these screens also have audio. For advertisers, all these displays are potent media to bring a product to the attention.

The big question here is how the advertising is influenced by the pop music used and does the ad in turn also affect pop music and how?

History

Around 1950 our first screen, the television was introduced. The number of Americans who owned a station at that time grew explosively within a few years. Within two years the advertising budget of the television was higher than that of the radio commercials.

In the early years, each program had its sponsor, such as the HMH, the current AFAS live in Amsterdam now. Later they switched to the system with advertising blocks. Competition arose, and the advertisers sought ways to differentiate themselves. The recognisability of the product and the brand became increasingly important.

Around the sixties, the advertisers discover what the use of music means for this recognisability.

Psychology

Music not only ensures recognisability, but people can also remember the advertising better and longer. Music can provide structure and glue separate video fragments in a way that creates a logical story.

G.J. Gorn did research that showed that the use of music in advertising consciously but also unconsciously influences our behaviour.

In addition to this scientific basis, all kinds of models and marketing strategies developed. The psychological effects of music that are important for marketing strategies include:

recognizability

memorableness

structure

continuity

identity

credibility

The influence of advertising on pop music

Over the past twenty years, various pop artists have scored a hit by using their music in commercials. Old songs succeeded (again) in achieving a high ranking in the charts. The Levi's 501 jeans advertising is an excellent example of this. The original is from Sam Cooke from 1960, and they first recorded it and released it by Louis Armstrong in 1967.

In the commercial of the jeans, they used the version of Tony Jackson. This only because of the rights and the associated costs. It resulted in multiple weeks a number one record in several charts of the original Sam Cooke song that they rereleased. 

Music licenses are an essential part of the proceeds and promotion strategies of music. At the same time, music has established itself as a necessary ingredient of marketing strategies, as evidenced by the continuous growth of income for licenses, sponsorship and branding.

Bethany Klein has written a book that deals with the different facets of this relationship between advertising and pop music. It deals with how people used music in advertising tactics and the tensions between the musicians, who appreciate the use of their music, with the companies that use the music. She based her work on the analysis of reports from the trade press about music use in advertisements and on interviews she has held with 29 producers dealing with this field. After a historical overview, Klein deals in each chapter with a specific subject such as the role of authorship in music licenses, advertising as an art-form for producing music, the advantages and disadvantages of using music in advertising for the musician and their music. The use of music in branding and the discussions about whether or not to lose the right to property through the use of the music in an advertisement. The ideological, ethical and moral aspects of the relationship between pop music and advertising sometimes result in tension and conflict. For example, if a presidential candidate wants to use a specific number for his campaign, he can only do so with the express permission of the performing artist and writer. The simple payment of the rights is not enough because people will associate the music with the political direction of this candidate. Although this is an obvious example, there are of course many examples in a grey area. You can use music for any purpose, but when its used in advertising, it can also generate money and airplay. It is a hatred/love relationship with some artists.

Klein analytically approaches the case, and she explains her vision by pointing out the various industrial, cultural, legal and technological aspects. She illustrates how changes in the way music are used in advertisements and are influenced by changes in production culture. With the arrival of a new generation of creative people with artistic ambitions and through the growth of competition and the importance of responding more and more to the needs of the public. This increase of rivalry results in a more artistic approach that encourages the development process of musicians and generates opportunities whose importance grows with structural changes in the music and radio industry, where opportunities for new artists are continually diminishing. As mentioned, the use of music in advertising can provide income and airplay, but it can also cause some problems. TV ads use particular musical styles, making them more popular. Because of the social media, there are many platforms where users can be bound. This bounding creates more opportunities and more competition at the same time. The problem arises from a lower viewing density because more and more channels are available. What are the influence on the creative process and its eventual commercialisation? What are the pros and cons of music that people strongly associated with a famous TV ad? It raises questions about the context and its meaning. Klein is interested in how the (new) contextualization of (already known) numbers in TV ads influences this process, "how the use of music in advertisements limits, emphasises or suppresses meanings and can reach target groups".

"Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop is used in the commercial of the Royal Caribbean Cruise ships. In the Dodge Challenger TV commercial, they used Fortunate Son from Creedence Clearwater Revival. The "Gimme Shelter" song from the Rolling Stones and Fortunate Son from Creedence Clearwater Revival are both used for a new advertising platform, the gaming industry. In the popular "Call of Duty: Black Ops" game, they used both songs because the lyrics of the chorus and the rock and roll underlined the look and the feel of the game. Klein emphasises that it is important to continue to ask questions when tensions arise on the ethical or property level and commercial interests. A critical investigation so that the balance between cultural and commercial objectives and their role in the "super commercial" can be monitored.

The influence of pop music on advertising

Richard Tedlow's 3-phase model shows the development of TV advertising. Within this model, the development of marketing within one company has three phases. In the first phase, a company focuses on a small regional function. As the business grows, it reaches the second stage and can turn to a national audience. In the third phase, specific target groups come into the picture. Television in America was organised in the early years through regional broadcasters where advertisements focused on a local audience. In the 1950s and 1960s, broadcasters developed and increasingly focused on a national audience. According to the 3-phase scheme of Richard Tedlow, they end up in phase 2. The successful Coca-Cola advertisement "I'd Like the World a Coke" is an excellent example of this phase where advertisers try to reach a broad audience with the power of music. Researchers discovered that radio stations were claiming their audience and that they were able to achieve specific demographic groups. In the eighties, radio stations broadcast their advertisements more purposefully.

Techniques

Because pop numbers usually have a length of at least three minutes, advertisers cannot use the entire song for advertising. An advertisement usually lasts no longer than a minute, and that is why it is essential for an advertiser to search for that one element of the number with which he can reach his goal. There are different techniques for using pop music in advertising. Here are essential methods with which the advertiser can convey his message.

The original

For an advertiser, this is the most expensive option because before using the original recording it also has to buy the "master rights". The advertiser uses the original version of the number because it is recognisable to potential customers. The agency purchased the rights to the specific recording to use it in advertising. Except that they cut it to get the proper parts out, there is rarely something adapted to the master. The use of each section has a different effect on the advertising, and as a result, the audio engineer carefully looks for the correct part of the number. The refrain, the hook and the instrumental track are the parts that are most commonly used in advertisements.

The chorus

The chorus is the most obvious part to use. It is the most recognisable and often the most catchy part of the song. Using the chorus usually works the best when the refrain has an energetic commitment. In this way, Chevrolet used the chorus of "We Are Young" from Fun for an advertisement in which the car do all sorts of stunts with which they advertised it. The chorus has an energetic dedication so that the advertising immediately without building up, sets the right atmosphere. When using the original chorus, the text remains unchanged. That is why somebody must check whether the songtext fits the message. Often the number is chosen on his relevant lines. The word that Chevrolet wanted to convey with 'We Are Young', and the all-capable Chevrolet is given by anchoring the image with the sound. It helps the viewer to interpret the images correctly. It anchors the images, so that image and sound together form one logical message. Interesting to mention is the fact that this sometimes goes wrong. The Bank of Montreal thought that Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin' would suit their advertising. The use of this song turned out to be entirely out of place since the text is actually about the corruption of banks and companies.

The hook

Not many people know that the jingle "pada-pa-papaa, I'm lovin 'it" from the Mc Donalds advertising is the hook of a song by Justin Timberlake. Mc Donalds has made the hook of the song his own. This catchy phrase from the song has been transformed into the jingle that everyone now associates with Mc Donalds. A hook is a short, recognisable piece of a song. This hook is often no more than one sentence or melody of the song. The hook is a jingle of a song and therefore right to use as a jingle of an advertisement.

The instrumental track

Advertisements often use background music. Background music is usually an instrumental track through which the "voice-over" has the space to convey the message. If they only use the instrumental intro of the song, nothing needs to be adapted to the master. Sometimes only the instrumental track of a pop song is used, for example, Chryslers advertisement for the Superbowl. In this advertisement, the instrumental track of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" is used. Often the instrumental track of hip-hop and electronic music is used because it usually has a repetitive character in itself and the text is not part of the melodic spectrum.

A cover

Sometimes the rights to the original recording are too expensive, and it is a cheaper solution to have another artist record a new version of the song. This recording also gives the advertiser the opportunity to make some adjustments to the number. By adjusting the sounds, the atmosphere of the song can be changed to suit the message of the advertisement. For example, acoustic guitars instead of electric guitars create a more relaxed atmosphere. The song possibly can also be modernised by replacing the sounds of the acoustic instruments with electronic sounds, while it remains recognisable.

Specific Texts

Another possibility that covers offers is the possibility to customise the texts. The song 'Ghostbusters' by Ray Parker Jr. has a very contagious chorus that lends itself well to a stimulating advertisement. The answer to the question in the chorus 'Who you're going to call?' Is answered with the unusable 'Ghostbusters!'. Now the American number information service 118 replaced this answer with the rhythmically beating 'one-one-eight!'. For this advertisement, they used the original image with the text of the hook replaced with the product name. A downside to this is that music lovers can get the feeling that the original song is infected.

Customized version

If it is too expensive for an advertisement to get the rights of the original recording or to make a cover of it, sometimes a song is written that resembles the original, but is legally a different number. A suitable example of this is the advertising of the Audi A6 Avant. In this advertisement, a song is used that does not look subtly on Eminem's 'Lose Yourself', which, as mentioned above, had already been used for a very similar advertisement by Chrysler.

Conclusions

The stated thesis is only partly correct. Pop music and advertising can reinforce each other if they meet some conditions. When they do not meet these requirements, they completely miss their goal.

When they do meet stock conditions, they reinforce each other, and there is a clear win/win situation.

What we further can notice, is that the aim of the advertiser or user of the music can be at odds with the interests or feelings of the writer or performer.

The right of ownership has been established for 50 years for the writer/executive.

Ethical aspects are part of the cooperation process.

Literature

Ronald Rodman, 

“Tuning In” American Narrative Television Music, (Oxford University Press 2010)

Gerald J. Gorn 

“The Effects of Music in Advertising on Choice Behavior: A Classical Conditioning Approach”, 198

Bethany Klein, 

“As Heard on TV: Popular Music in Advertising” (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009)

Charles Ray Taylor, 

recensie of New and Improved: The Story of Mass Marketing in America, by Richard Tedlow, Journal of Marketing 58 (1994)

Claudia Gorbman,
“Why Music? The Sound Film and its Spectator,” in Movie Music, the Film Reader,  red. Kay Dickinson (New York: Routledge, 2004)

Commercial Levi’s 501 bath, geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roBkw0RfY-Q

Commercial "Lust For Life”, geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017:

https://youtu.be/N7dCrtdRtZQ

Commercial “Fortunate Son”, geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017: 

https://youtu.be/voh-M7qBjBM

Commercial “Gimme Shelter, geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017: 

https://youtu.be/OPTOVQFRggI

Commercial “Chevy Sonic Stunt Anthem 2012 Super Bowl” geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017:
https://youtu.be/7vrorg79aNM

Commercial “Mc Donalds, I’m Lovin It,” geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017,
https://youtu.be/LCcHrDMsfDg

Commercial “Chrysler Eminem Super Bowl, Imported From Detroit,” geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017,
https://youtu.be/SKL254Y_jtc

Commercial “118 – Who You Gonna Call?” geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017,
https://youtu.be/LZw87CSV-o4

Commercial “New Audi A6 Avant / Audi A6 Avant Werbung,” geraadpleegd op 18 november 2017,
https://youtu.be/Nn5WYJ1yMII