Who picks the music for commericals???????????????????

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Cringe!

Is there someone in the ad agency that are picking tunes as their sole job?

Or are there people outside of agencies that agencies go too?

Who picks the music that play in STORES like the Gap and shit?

― Leroy Tippy Toes, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)

i read an interview once with a producer at an ad agency and yeh his job included choosing the soundtrack - i think he was the guy who decided the Guiness surfers advert should feature Leftfield's 'Phat Planet' - this was an enormous boost to both Leftfield and Guiness and the ad was a huge success...the power these people have is insane eh?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Thats nothing compared to they guy who did Match Of The Day!
All you ever read in papers or telext was "what was the band during that goal on..."

― Henry Fowler, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Usually the writer and producer of the ads will have ideas for music, but invariably the final say is ALWAYS THE CLIENT. Usually, the clients who have money and are trying to appeal to a younger audience will get the better songs -- they can afford to use pretty much anything, and can pay the good agencies who in turn try to hire the hip young composers and other guys who actually have an ear to what sounds good. Otherwise, you have a client who just wants something generic that they think compliments their product -- and that's how you get lame elevator muzak in so many commercials and stores.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Another person with control over the music is the post-production editor. He/she will pick a scratch track and sometimes the client will dig it and go with that. My roommate does this for a living and is always coming to me for suggestions. A few of them have made it.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Who are these "and other guys who actually have an ear to what sounds good."

What else do producers do?

― Leroy Tippy Toes, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Who are these "and other guys who actually have an ear to what sounds good."

Well, they might be composers on staff (very rare), or contracted music houses that make it their job to be on top of trends. They might also be other famous musicians - Mom & Pop's Dry Cleaning wouldn't be able to approach Beck to find out his thoughts on what's hot for his demographic as easily as Nike might.

As I understand it, producers basically coordinate the production (yep) of the ads -- they don't necessarily write it, they don't necessarily do all the video, but they do gather the people they want to work with, act as liason between client and advertisers and generally make sure the project is coming out in the way that they and the client envisioned.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)

cringe?
I would love to be the person who picks music for commercials and I would have zero qualms about getting good music onto radio and tv while paying neglected musicians the big bucks

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

it would be like robin hood and jesus christ and wolfman jack all rolled into one

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The funny thing about Andrew WK is that he tried to make an album that would sound like the best, coolest beer commercial ever. And of course it ended up being used in a beer commercial.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

yr gonna take the sins of the rich and give them to the poor and growl about it?

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

eggzactly

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:14 (twenty-two years ago)

What are "Music Houses" any examples?

Thanks everyone!

― Leroy Tippy Toes, Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Music houses are people in the business of providing soundtrack music for ads, movies, etc. There's a pretty big one in my town, located here.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Tim Barnes, who in the past year has played with Wilco, Pullman, Neil Haggerty, Glenn Kotche, Chris Corsano, Nagisa Ni Te, Essex Green, and others, has a job where he helps pick music for commercials. He's an all-around superstar. When the NY Times did an article about this topic a few years ago, his name came up a few times.

― Sam Hunt, Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

there are quite a few agencies that "advise" ad agencies on music, agoraphone is excellent, and there's many others like tenmusic and the like.

the sad reality is, these aesthetically-minded placement agencies are getting pushed out by the aging heads of the ad companies, who feel they can better judge what gets in. as a result, phil collins signs a song over to Chevrolet [i think it was], and we end up with crappy music in car ads.

or led zeppelin, when a placement agency gave numerous suggestions to Cadillac, the ad agency itself made the final choice. people have suggested its choice ["rock and roll"] was a poor one. [me, i would have said "misty mountain hop" or "when the leevee breaks" but whatre you gonna do?]

Likewise, the business of "music supervisors" in film [long regarded as essential in markets like the UK] is becoming superceded by the director. In some cases, this works [as in Shallow Hal], in others it sure as hell doesn't [endless action blunderfests]. But it's the "music supervisor" position which is the penultimate music geek fantasy [John Peel the tops].

I feel the supervisor role is essential to film, but i'm a music dork. I also think advertising is quite beneficial to music [especially the exposure part], but i'm a music geek. Ultimately, i have to wonder if it even matters. I know i can't listen to Common anymore.

― david day (winslow), Friday, 21 February 2003 07:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, Tim Barnes rulez...

― hstencil, Friday, 21 February 2003 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

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