The hidden costs of the sound of music

Despite the enormous costs usually involved, we’re increasingly seeing ‘recognisable’ and ‘well-known’ as keywords in music briefs we receive. 

There’s sound logic here because some songs have an almost universal appeal, cutting across lines of age, gender, nationality and culture to connect with vast audiences on a global scale.

The more these tracks are synced the more their financial value rises. But does this mean increased value for a campaign? 

And, of course, there are the success stories of the past: BA’s iconic use of Lakmé’s Flower Duet; the memorable Cadbury’s Gorilla spot [below], soundtracked by Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight, or the enduring use of Bananarama’s cover of Shocking Blue for Venus, and Queen’s Flash Gordon theme for Flash cleaning products. 

But there are problems here. 

Above: Cadbury used Phil Collins' famous 1981 track, In the Air Tonight, on its award-winning 2007 spot.

Growing costs, diminishing returns

We’ve seen the fees for what you might call ‘heritage’ tracks growing year on year. The demand for them seems to be endless, and the more these tracks are synced the more their financial value rises. But does this mean increased value for a campaign? 

All [big tracks] are eclipsed by earlier memories – hearing them for the first time, dancing to them after midnight with friends.

If we look at the success stories mentioned above, each carries an air of idiosyncrasy combined, in some cases, with longevity. The problem with continually reaching for the big names is that they end up being recycled from brand to brand, campaign to campaign. So, while their fees grow, they can only provide diminishing returns in terms of brand recognition. 

These songs have a life of their own

Another issue is that songs like these are much bigger than any given campaign. Sometimes this can be a good thing. The use of Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talkin’ in Jonathan Glazer’s Start Living spot for Club Med [below] may not be as iconic as Midnight Cowboy, the film for which it was used, but it borrows the same naive dislocation of the small-town boy in the busy and hostile city, in a way that’s wonderfully evocative for fans of the film. 

As music supervisors we’ve seen tracks like Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere or Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine come up again and again, but all are eclipsed by earlier memories – hearing them for the first time, dancing to them after midnight with friends, or hearing them soundtrack a tender moment with a loved one.

Above: Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talkin’ was used in a Club Med spot that shared creative elements with the film in which the track originally appeared. 

The artists may not have the rights

Often, the growing fees for heritage tracks no longer go to the artists or their families. When sync emerged as a profitable avenue for the music industry, a wave of sweeping acquisitions followed. Artists that have sold all or most of the rights to their music include Bob Dylan, four out of five members of Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, James Brown, Sting, the list goes on... 

Creatively limiting

Finally, and most importantly, overemphasising recognisability is creatively limiting. Good sync placements lead with the creative. Every aspect of the music should serve the story the film is trying to tell. Lyrically, of course, but also the tone, texture, timbre, rhythms and the instrumentation all have something to say, and these things tend to be left behind when recognisability is the primary factor. 

Overemphasising recognisability is creatively limiting.

Thankfully, this leads us to solutions. 

Above: Yello’s bizarre 80s hit, Oh Yeah! was a perfect fit for director Edgar Wright's McDonald's spot.

Lead with the creative

Good sync placements, like good advertising in general, are not about following where others have had success. The risk averse may seek to emulate the latest Nike, Apple, or McDonald's hit but, most often, these successes come from taking risks, going where others haven’t dared and, above all, leading with the creative. 

Good sync placements, like good advertising in general, are not about following where others have had success.

This doesn’t always mean taking a punt on something obscure. McDonald’ Raise Your Arches campaign [above] turned heads last year with its use of Yello’s wonderfully bizarre 80s hit, Oh Yeah!. The track has been used a bunch of times in adverts for Twix, Honda, Dominos [below], even competitors KFC (in Australia). In this case, though, it was a perfect fit, every element of the composition working for the film, from the ‘bom bom’ synth stabs – synced up to the protagonists’ raised eyebrows – to the marching pace, and quirky tonality. It’s a brilliant example of a film built around its soundtrack, rather than the latter tacked on at the end. 

Above: While Edgar Wright made a great decision to use this track, he wasn't the first to do so. 

Up-and-coming artists, forgotten gems

Working with independent artists or forgotten obscurities can not only help to tell the story within a spot, but the campaign can often become part of the wider story of the music, enriching the audience base on both sides. 

There was a time when commercials made the careers of artists like Jet, The Dandy Warhols, and The Black Keys.

While heritage tracks often cost upwards of half a million GBP in usage fees, an £80,000 sync fee for an up-and-coming artist, though, can mean a year’s salary, equipment and studio costs, the ability to quit day jobs and work independently of labels, and a huge boost to streams overnight. In 2022, everyone was talking about the return of Kate Bush to the charts, following a perfect placement in Stranger Things. In recent years, TV and film have been more willing to take risks and try new things. 

But there was a time when commercials made the careers of artists like Jet, The Dandy Warhols, and The Black Keys. Or they revitalised the careers of long-forgotten artists, like Vashti Bunyan, the British folk songstress who recorded one album in the late 60s before disappearing on a horse-drawn caravan to the Isle of Skye, only to be propelled into the limelight and back to a recording career, fifty years later, by a T-Mobile ad [below].