When I first heard bands talk about album sales, marketing and music as a business like accounting rather than an immeasurable art, I was a bit taken aback. Obviously, there is an industry behind music that makes it possible for bands to get their albums and concert tickets into the hands of hungry fans, but I thought that was something that managers, agents and record label executives dealt with while the bands lived solely in a creative world filled with nothing but muses, energy, starlight and magic.
So I was a little deluded.
Bands live in the "real" world, a world where it costs money to do just about anything. As much as we'd like to think that our favorite musicians are of the starving artist variety -- the type that lives a bohemian life writing soulful tunes in a corner of their rundown New York City apartments where sheet music litters the bare wood floors -- that's just not the case. While it may be off-putting to hear your favorite band talk about money or album sales, you have to realize that this is the world we live in. In order to put out records or tour, artists need income. Furthermore, many band members have families that they need to support, and they want the same job security that everyone else strives for.
For this reason, many bands have licensed out their songs to be used in advertisements for other products. Television commercials and shows, whose soundtracks were once dominated by cheesy jingles, now often use legitimately good music to sell the latest merchandise or to promote a new episode. When The Beatles' song "Revolution" was used in a Nike commercial in the 1980s, just about everyone was outraged and protests were heard loud and clear.
As many bands have noted, things have changed since then. Four years ago, when The Shins let McDonald's use "New Slang" in an advertisement, fans were up in arms and harsh accusations of selling out were lobbied against the indie band. Frontman James Mercer told press that the backlash surprised him, but that the money from McDonald's went towards building a studio and recording their next album. Bands are responsible for paying recording fees, and sometimes previous album and ticket sales are not enough to pay the bills.
Other times, the use of a song in an advertisement is just a way to expose the song to more listeners. Saul Williams' "List of Demands" was used in a Nike commercial this year. The pairing of images of athletic prowess and strength with Williams' high-energy song created a compelling commercial that had a lot of viewers not running out to buy Nikes, but Googling the song. Even though Williams is an influential actor, poet and musician who has collaborated with many prominent artists, he is still unknown by many people. The Nike commercial certainly helped to change this.
I'm sure a lot of us wish money didn't play such a large role in our lives. Personally, I'd love to just burn all my cash, live without responsibilities and walk the earth trying to "find myself" a la Christopher McCandless (of "Into the Wild" fame), but chances are that I'd end up living in a box next to the dumpster of a Dunkin' Donuts. So now you know where to find me in three years.
I think rappers and hip-hop artists are some of the only contemporary musicians that are truly honest about the influence of money. Wyclef Jean sings, "'Cause I'm a tell you like Wu told me. Cash rules everything around me. Singin' dollar dollar bill y'all (dollar, dollar bill y'all), singin' dollar dollar bill y'all (dollar, dollar bill y'all)" in "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)." Way back when, Snoop Dog said, "Rollin' down the street, smokin' indo, sippin' on gin and juice -- laid back with my mind on my money and my money on my mind" in "Gin and Juice." They acknowledge the undeniable role that money plays in their lives. Rap and hip-hop might be criticized for having a superficial, or even violent, focus on money and women, but there's an element of honesty to it. At least when I'm rolling down the street sipping on gin and juice, I know I've got money on my mind.
Even if your favorite musician only sings about love or the meaning of life, he hasn't transcended the need to make a living. To some extent, we're all singing "dollar dollar bill y'all." It's just a matter of whether you admit it.
Divya is a staff writer for The Mirror. We hope she doesn't expect to get paid for this.
