Have you ever been watching TV when a commercial comes on and grabs your attention with a song that you have never heard but instantly like? Or after seeing the same commercial a couple of times you realize the song starts to get stuck in your head and you want to hear the full version? TV commercials are starting to use new, up and coming music that is not well-known but has potential to be popular. For example, Chevrolet used the song We Are Young by Fun. in their Superbowl Ad:
Now (March 21st, 2012) this song is #1 on iTunes top charts. Music and ads are now working hand-in-hand for each other. A popular, likable song can catch attention, influence viewers, and bring familiarity to the commercial. A commercial that introduces a new song can be seen as “on top of their stuff” since they know good music before it is popular, create recognition of the brand when the song is heard, and increase sales for a music artist. Websites like Squidoo.com can help you find the song name and artist from the commercials. Youtube will sometimes hold the information in the text below the video as well.
As my roommate and I drove to the store together, I showed her a new song I had downloaded. Mid-song she said, “Oh, I know this song. It’s from that Internet Explorer commercial.” I hadn’t seen the commercial yet but I had discovered it off of iTunes top charts list where it was listed as #36. My guess is that the Internet Explorer commercial inspired people to find the song and download it off iTunes, increasing its rankings on the top charts. In this interaction, both the brand and the artist win. It’s weird to see that happen nowadays but hooray! Music makes the world a better place!
