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Studio version of "the thanks I get" in commercial.


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it's probably an age/responsibilities thing. anyone who has many years of working behind them or struggles to buy a house or struggles to afford a family or saves enough money to pay cash for a fine preowned vehicle is a little more sensible before automatically screaming SELLOUT!

 

me? i think it's great and i hope they make a boatload of money each time those spots run cause real life ain't for pussies.

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Dude. That hot-n-spicy chicken must be hot-n-spicy! :lol

You should see this letter I'm writing to the secretary general of the U.N. about exactly what is wrong with the world and how it should be fixed immediately.

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Do adults actually still talk about bands "selling out"? Especially bands that have spent their entire careers in the mainstream music business...

Selling a song for a decent company to use in a commercial isn't that big of a deal anymore, selling five songs is a little wtf.

 

I'm finding it hard to work up any real emotion about it either way though, it's not like these songs make any real impact for me. If it was Poor Places or Misunderstood or other songs I really liked then maybe I could scrape up some more indignation.

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i would never claim they "sold out"...

 

but still, 5 songs?

and the songs don't even seem to really fit the commercials all that well (well the 2 we've seen) imo.

 

when the commercials are great and the song fits it, i totally support whoever the artist is letting their songs be used.

 

doesn't make me feel any differently about Wilco, i just kinda wonder why at this point i guess

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1. I'm not sure I understand the definition of selling out... they seem to still write what they want to write and do what they want to do... just because they let some songs go onto a commercial means selling out why? because it's exposure? because it's worth money? I don't think it cheapens the emotion that was put into these songs when they were written... in the words of our very own Mr Tweedy

 

"And if the whole world

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I hope this makes the mortgage a bit easier to pay, not to mention private school. Good for him/them

 

Don't think Tweedy has any problems footing the bills. I find this whole thing a bit disturbing. Yes, a lot of bands sell thier songs to car commercials, but the fact that Wilco hadn't was one of the things that made them special.

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In general, I don't care about licensing songs for advertising. It's a non-issue for me. In most cases, I think the whole idea of "selling out" is an artificial distinction based upon an artificial, idealized notion of artistic purity. There is no reason why music can't exist as art and product at the same time.

 

I'm reminded of something Leonard Cohen once said: "

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Did Wilco record these songs because they felt they would sell, or because they believed in them? If they made these songs for pure artistic reasons, why can't they now also reap any economic benefits they might bring?

 

I think you nailed it there

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You should see this letter I'm writing to the secretary general of the U.N. about exactly what is wrong with the world and how it should be fixed immediately.

 

 

When they see the crayon on it they won't take it as seriously.

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Does anyone even remember commercials when they have run their course? Many acts have had their stuff licensed for advertising use but honestly I cannot recall one on the products or songs. Well, I lie...I can recall two. The use of Venus In Furs for the tyre advert and the use of Phat Planet for the Guinness ad. Those were pretty good. The rest..meh.

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Alright, since everyone else seems perfectly willing to write this off as nothing, guess I'll be one of the few to cry bullsh**t. I happen to think Wilco's music is art, and for me at least that art is cheapened when it's used for shilling a product (and don't give me any, "But an album's a product" BS, you know what I mean). And the movie comparison makes no sense. At all. A movie is also a work of art, and music in film is used to aid the storytelling; music in an ad is used to make people associate that product with said song, so that buyers will say, hey, VW is a cool company, they're associated with Wilco (or Nick Drake or Stereolab or whoever), I'll buy their product. Apparently it worked, as people here keep posting about what a cool company VW is. What?

 

Bands used to take very strong stands against this kind of thing, for the very reason above: It takes something that has meaning, and it debases it. REM refused to license End of the World to Microsoft for Windows 95, and still won't license its songs for use in commercials. Do you really think, I dunno, Bob Mould would let the Husker Du catalog be used for selling board games? Or the Avengers would license We Are the One for a Gap campaign? And what happens when it's not a "cool" company. Think about the New Pornographers, who licensed a song to the University of Phoenix, the same for-profit college chain that's been accused of bilking students with under-qualified teachers and shoddy education. How can anyone look at that and not be a little disappointed that they'd let themselves be used to sell such a product?

 

There's also a difference between writing music for ads, and licensing one of your songs. Yo la Tengo does the former (as does Bob Mould and many others), but steadfastly refuses to do the latter. Jeff has bills to pay, sure, but since when did becoming an "adult," as others have indicated here (likely others not quite at that same stage themselves) mean sacrificing principles for money? And, news flash, Jeff makes a very, very nice living as is.

 

Would Thom Yorke do this? Michael Stipe? Patti Smith? I mean, how much does it suck to hear an Iggy Pop song used for Carnival Cruise Lines or to see Bob Dylan sing in praise of underwear? Why doesn't this bother more people? (I blame Moby.) Sorry, but this takes music and reduces it to nothing more than a branding tool, a lifestyle signifier. It cheapens it, and it sucks, and I for one have lost a little respect for Jeff and company for doing this.

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(and don't give me any, "But an album's a product" BS, you know what I mean)

 

I'm sure I don't, actually. AN album is a product... they make their music and then they sell it and you and everyone else pays for it. so... explain maybe?

 

Bands used to take very strong stands against this kind of thing, for the very reason above: It takes something that has meaning, and it debases it. REM refused to license End of the World to Microsoft for Windows 95, and still won't license its songs for use in commercials. Do you really think, I dunno, Bob Mould would let the Husker Du catalog be used for selling board games? Or the Avengers would license We Are the One for a Gap campaign?

 

Would Thom Yorke do this? Michael Stipe? Patti Smith?

 

Do you think Tweedy says "Hey, Michael Stipe wouldn't do this, so I'm not gunna?" err.. probably not. Two different people with two different views.

 

how much does it suck to hear an Iggy Pop song used for Carnival Cruise Lines?

 

It doesn't suck to hear Iggy... ever...

 

I for one have lost a little respect for Jeff and company for doing this.

 

Well that's really really too bad

 

Do you still like ther music?

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Why doesn't this bother more people?

Perhaps because a lot of people don't share your perspective that commercial use always debases the art--to believe that, one must first subscribe to romanticized ideas about artistic purity. Don't get me wrong: I too believe that Wilco's music is art of the highest order, but hearing a few notes in a transient advert doesn't interfere with how I respond to that art, or alter what that art means to me. It's easy for me to separate those two functions.

 

It might be different if there was a fundamental contradiction between a band's message and the commercial's message. For example, if a song was about maintaining a healthy lifestyle but was then licensed to McDonald's, then I'd agree that was selling out. But in general that is rarely the case, and certainly doesn't apply to Wilco's VW ads. In fact, you could argue that SBS is an album about coming to terms with the realities of the world--and part of that might be resigning oneself to the economic realities of a world where art and commerce often must co-exist.

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