Search

Salesnoise: the convergence of music and advertising

Pretty much as soon as there was such a thing as a music industry (and such a thing as an advertising industry), music was employed to sell. The music and advertising industries took shape in the late 1800s and cemented their relationship with commercial radio broadcasting in the ’20s. Accompanied by groups such as the Lucky Strike Orchestra and the Vick’s Vap-o-rub Quartet, radio blurred distinctions between advertising and what we now call "content" from the start.

Working on that VOICE piece got me wondering: Why did I ever think the distinction between ads and pop music was a natural one in the first place? Why did I assume that the relationship between them had continually gotten blurrier, when it actually started blurry, separated (but still dated occasionally), and got blurrier again? What, exactly, are the differences between then and now? None of these questions could be broached in 1,400 or so words. Thus, the timeline.

"If it’s always been like this, what’s the big deal?"

Well, it hasn’t always been like this. To see familiar roots hardly means that music’s relationship to advertising hasn’t radically changed. For instance, the reason sponsors blurred advertising and programming early on was due to fear of offending listeners and inciting government regulation. A direct pitch over the airwaves was presumed taboo. In contrast, advertising and pop music snuggled post-’50s not because the mere fact of advertising reflected poorly on a company. People had more or less come to accept advertising as a fact of life by then. But people–constantly bombarded with advertisements–tuned them out. Advertisers were increasingly competing against each other, rather than some notion of propriety. In fact, blurring itself became socially unacceptable. Blurring was identified as co-opting. This was articulated through rock, which, back in the day, defined itself as an attitude more than anything else–an attitude against institutions, against commercialism. And that idea, if not the reality, has been, for those of us born in the last twenty or thirty years, the water in which we swim.

Early advertising music also had different aims. Music then was primarily used as a mnemonic device. Rhyme and repetition were enlisted to kept a brand name in mind. "Singing commercials" or jingles made up a self-contained genre. Music now is more often employed as "borrowed interest," capturing a feeling, setting a mood, recalling past experiences and playing them back on behalf of the sponsors.

Mass media may have integrated music and advertising from the start, but media played a much smaller role in how people experienced music. Music was played, sung, and created in the home and at local events. Popular music now is practically inseparable from media. With Walkmans, hi-fis, and car radio, music is both portable and ubiquitous, not something that requires seeking out. And with TV and, later, MTV, popular music includes visuals. We’re seeing the movie before reading the book.

We could do a similar timeline for comedy, sports, film, even books. But something about music–so immediate, and intangible and spiritual and abstract–makes its case particularly telling. Music, more than these other parts of culture, is its own language.

We originally intended this to be a couple of pages but got a little carried away. Twelve pages later, it nearly scratches the surface. When did record companies form "special products" departments to market music to nonmusic fans? What’s the history of music as a premium? Of music to sell fashion? Well, dunno. Maybe in the future we’ll expand the info here and publish a one-off–or at least update the web version. So anyone with insight is encouraged to get in touch.

One more thing: as those of us who work in the music industry well know, pop music has seen better days. The kids aren’t listening or buying; rockers can make a lot more money licensing songs for commercials and soundtracks than selling records. At the risk of overgeneralizing and boiling down very complicated issues into a pat conclusion, I don’t think this is a coincidence.
-- Carrie McLaren

Music and Advertising Timeline