Music & Sound Design: Overview

Despite a history of creative differences, bands and brands are now in sync when it comes to music in ads. Artists make money they’re no longer getting from sales and brands get a measurable return in recognition. But, as Joe Lancaster finds, to get it right takes more than just naming that tune

The guy from the record label eyed his phone with horror as messages rattled into his inbox like machine gun fire. Many of them were from a disgruntled Lily Allen. We were discussing a shots/Warner Music event on the morning that information about the singer had been leaked to the press and she was not at all happy.

But it wasn’t details of her private life or a pirated copy of her next album that had gone public. In fact, word had got out that a track by Allen was featuring on that year’s John Lewis Christmas commercial and, these days, putting a deal like that in jeopardy is a pretty serious issue. Music in advertising has come a long way since the days of catchy jingles.

“The John Lewis commercial is sought after by labels and it’s sought after by artists if it’s the right time for them. It’s the equivalent of getting A-listed on Radio 1 a few years ago, if not bigger,” explains Abi Leland, MD at Leland Music, music supervisors for the retailer’s ads. Although John Lewis is a good example of a brand that artists are scrambling to collaborate with, it’s certainly not the only one. “Five years ago it was still considered pretty bad to have your music used in a commercial.

A lot of artists didn’t want to be associated with brands,” says Marcel Wiebenga, partner and head of new business at Amsterdam music company Sizzer. He feels there’s been a significant shift recently. “At SXSW a few years ago I saw Public Enemy, the ultimate anti-establishment hip-hop group, play on a stage that was designed as a Doritos bag.”

It’s no secret that, bar multi-million-selling megastars, artists now make little money from record sales. Revenue comes mainly from two avenues: touring and brand collaboration, and the latter has evolved hugely from the days of slapping a hit on a soft drink commercial and counting the dollars.

Artists are now using advertising and other types of sync (e.g. film and TV shows) as part of their release strategy, says Charles FitzGerald, global head of sync & brand partnerships at [PIAS], a record label and independent music licensing giant. “Sync is now more and more important in the record label set-up – you work in combination with your international team, radio team, online team. As much as they’re pushing to get the song on Radio 1, or the video onto VICE, we’ll be pushing hard to get an ad, or another type of sync.”

Developing a sound strategy

So we know what’s in it for the artist, but what’s in it for the brand other than added street credibility? According to a study by Adrian North and David Hargreaves of Leicester University, “ads with music that ‘fit’ the brand are 96 per cent more likely to be remembered than those with non-fit music,” and, “Respondents are 24 per cent more likely to purchase the product in an ad which featured ‘fit’ rather than ‘non-fit’ music.”

Like all facets of the ad industry, the increase in brands’ activity online has led to major changes in how record labels and music companies can spread their wings. “Nowadays we’re getting more opportunities to be more creative and the diversity of brands that you can expose artists through is much greater because of the way online is more experimental,” explains Kate Young, MD of Soho Music.

“The role of creative music agencies in advertising is becoming more respected, moving away from the old-school mentality of cliché jingle companies.” And the multi-platform nature of today’s media landscape means brands need to engage more with music companies to develop their ‘sonic branding’, explains Roscoe Williamson, EP at MassiveMusic London.

“Brands are making a lot of noise and there are many more ways of communicating with their customers. Without a coherent sound strategy, it’s not as effective as it could be. We’re not just talking about mnemonics at the end of adverts, it could be a whole strategy of watermarking audio through loads of different touchpoints and giving a global sound to the brand.”

Sadly though, as with film, clients still don’t recognise the value of music in online applications as highly as they perhaps should, but the situation is improving, says Young. “The more that clients see results from online campaigns, the more it increases in value. TV is still the most highly budgeted medium but it looks like soon the two will run parallel.”

While it’s clear that more artists are keen for their music to be used in ads, an age-old problem remains. “Sometimes when a director falls in love with a piece of music and it fits with the picture, it’s wonderful and that’s what everyone dreams of,” explains [PIAS]’s FitzGerald. “The problem is, on the whole, musicians don’t write music for that purpose, they write to deal with break-ups or hurt, and those things don’t always go brilliantly [with advertising or film].”

This has led to more and more artists agreeing to write bespoke music for ads, and this can be a particularly useful opportunity for emerging talent to gain exposure. [PIAS] recently placed a track by Anna Of The North in a European-wide Google campaign. Although her debut album is yet to be released, the ad has increased her exposure hugely, with almost 5m YouTube views (she’s credited in its description with a link to the track in the Google Play Store). The ad is also Shazamable, which has likely contributed to the more than 55,000 tags the track has gained to date.

The story of the blues, rock, dance…

It’s not just record labels that are getting in on the action. Music companies are also adapting their offering to cater for clients’ desires and create opportunities for young artists. Last year Audio Network, traditionally known as a music library, launched Workshop – a showcase of its composers’ talents. “We used to present ourselves as the company first and the artist second, but the ad industry doesn’t want that,” explains Nick Bennett, Audio Network’s head of advertising, Europe. “Everyone needs a story they can pitch in, whether it’s us pitching to creatives, them pitching to a director, or someone pitching to the client. So it’s important to have a story behind the artist – what they’re doing outside of this one track.” And what they’re doing is pretty impressive.

Some of their composers are signed with major labels and Workshop has facilitated some hugely successful brand partnerships, for example Alex Arcoleo’s track for a Dove Men+Care spot that has notched up 18m YouTube views.

MassiveTalent – the division of MassiveMusic that helps unsigned artists find sync deals – has also enjoyed considerable success. Recently, young singer/songwriter George Barnett recorded a bespoke track for online cycling retailer Wiggle which featured in an ad for the client as well as in a branded ‘music video’. The track is available on Soundcloud and Spotify where it’s credited to Wiggle Bike Shop/Wiggle Music, although Barnett is credited on YouTube, where the ad has had over 4.5m views. Since doing the track Barnett has found an increased following and secured more sync work through MassiveTalent, including an Axe spot, Young Mature.

Another success story is Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes, who featured in the Heineken ad The Switch which used their single Love Letter. Interestingly, though, despite what we hear about artists being more open to brand partnerships, none who were contacted wanted to comment in this article, including George Barnett and Anna Of The North. In another case we were actually told by an artist’s management that they wanted to distance their client from ad industry press.

The ad industry is obsessed with new technology and, from a sonic perspective, it’s no different. Shazam has enabled advertisers to take TV viewers directly to their website or app, and last year it reported over 100 million active monthly users, with 30 per cent of users having tagged a TV show or commercial, and those figures are increasing all the time. According to a Nielsen study conducted in 2014, TV ads with a Shazam call to action have overall significantly higher recall and likeability than those without, including 14 per cent higher brand and message recall and 13 per cent higher likeability.

New tech can also be used in the creation of music for brands, as MassiveMusic’s mmorph project aims to prove. Created in collaboration with leading audio and tech firms, including Reactify, the browser-based workflow can be used in interactive experiences to enable audiences to manipulate sound where it would previously have been impossible. Applications for its use could include VR, installations or interactive film, and the demonstration website has already won an FWA Site of the Day award and sparked conversations with interested potential clients. 

We’re all music supervisors now

So, how does the future look for music in advertising? Bright, according to Federico Bolza, VP of strategy at Sony Music Entertainment. “I think we’re going to see a lot more partnerships but they’re going to blur the lines between sync, licensing and partnerships. It’s going to be more about creating exciting and entertaining content that’s going to drive brand, artist and audience objectives.”

[PIAS]’s FitzGerald hopes that the availability of more music via streaming, and the accessibility of the internet as a channel for brands to communicate through, will result in a diverse creative output for clients and artists. “I hope that everyone becomes a music supervisor,” he says. “The music industry is pushing hard to get its rights management into place so that people can freely sync music to their videos. It isn’t just major corporations, but young professionals and new brands who can have online ads. I hope they work in tandem with the music industry so we can keep them up to date with great music.”

Creative conversations. Music companies, brands and agencies talking at the start of a project. Promoting new artists and using new tech. It all sounds good to us.