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So. There you all have it. The band themselves admit it.

 

http://wilcoworld.net/news/index.php

 

hl_vwilco.gif

 

Honestly, I nearly choked on the remains of my asparagus cream soup :rotfl You rule, guys :thumbup

 

Btw, they just made the top news headline here in Germany with that statement for the - as far as I remember - 1st time :unsure

 

PS: sorry if that had been posted before, I didn't have time to read through all the ~80 recent replies :blush

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anymore about them selling out.

i love wilco.

i love what they do and how they do it.

they have families. i remember reading in the kot book that they usually made about 30,000 dollars a year.

now i dont know if their spouses work, but if not, that isnt much to live off of in a big city.

including if you have the guitar habit of mr. tweedy.

anyway. i love the idea of marketing their music in adverts.

wonderful decision from a wonderful band.

 

lets all bitch about not enough b-sides and how they arent coming to our respective areas.... instead of ripping on them for making a decent living...

jeeze....

 

kudos to wilco!

i would of done the same..

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Following is a reply I found on a blog on which this very topic is being discussed. I think this one post sums it up pretty well, without all the emotional baggage I, unfortunately, packed for the ride:

 

"I think Amanda is confusing two things: making a living period and making a living as a musician. Presumably, people who chose the latter love music. That does mean some sacrifice will probably be in order in your life - it isn

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The way I look at it is this, emotional baggage or not: It's a song in a commercial. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Someone on another board commented on it thusly, and I think he kind of sums it up very nicely without all that annoying sentimental "THE MUSIC BELONGS TO ME" crap: "VW came to Wilco, not the other way around. They weren't out whoring themselves to companies and only lending their tunes to the highest bidder. If they did maybe I'd have a 'problem' with it but for me its a BFD moment.

 

An artist is someone who produces their art without needing pay. When they won't produce that art unless for money they cease to be an artist.

 

That hasn't happened here."

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June 05, 2007, 11:20 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Wilco has taken to its official Web site to explain its partnership with Volkswagen, which is running a series of TV ads set to songs from the band's new album, "Sky Blue Sky."

 

So far, the spots feature "You Are My Face" and the "Sky Blue Sky" bonus track "The Thanks I Get," with three or four additional songs due to soundtrack upcoming ads, according to the band.

 

"This is a subject we've discussed internally many times over the years regarding movies, TV shows and even the odd advertisement," the band says. "With the commercial radio airplay route getting more difficult for many bands (including Wilco), we see this as another way to get the music out there. As with most of the above (with the debatable exception of radio) the band gets paid for this. And we feel okay about VWs. Several of us even drive them."

 

The Web posting goes on to explain that the deal is not a first for Wilco, despite claims to the contrary from Volkswagen. "Wilco have licensed hundreds of songs to television shows and films worldwide," the band says, adding that frontman Jeff Tweedy has also appeared in an Apple Computer campaign and that a song was previously utilized in a TV ad for Spain's Telefonica Mobile.

 

Wilco's decision to pact with Volkswagen has generated an avalanche of feedback on the Internet, some of it so negative that Tweedy's brother-in-law, Danny Miller, has weighed in on his own blog.

 

Wilco kicks off a summer North American tour June 13 in Davenport, Iowa.

 

billboard article

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One of the undiscussed negative externalities of watching commercial tv is the constant flow of advertisements that debase songs or music one might actually love. There is no way that it isn
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Following is a reply I found on a blog on which this very topic is being discussed. I think this one post sums it up pretty well, without all the emotional baggage I, unfortunately, packed for the ride:

Meh. Just another opinion. Everybody's got one. The most significant bit of that post is this:

 

There are no set rules for integrity

Yup.

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There actually is a way this isn't depressing. DON"T TURN ON THE FUCKING TV.

:lol :rock :yes

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The way I look at it is this, emotional baggage or not: It's a song in a commercial. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Someone on another board commented on it thusly, and I think he kind of sums it up very nicely without all that annoying sentimental "THE MUSIC BELONGS TO ME" crap: "VW came to Wilco, not the other way around. They weren't out whoring themselves to companies and only lending their tunes to the highest bidder. If they did maybe I'd have a 'problem' with it but for me its a BFD moment.

 

An artist is someone who produces their art without needing pay. When they won't produce that art unless for money they cease to be an artist.

 

That hasn't happened here."

 

I don

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There actually is a way this isn't depressing. DON"T TURN ON THE FUCKING TV.

 

Why do we have to be some sort of unwitting pawn in this? Do people not have backbones, functioning brains? That's part of the thing that gripes me about the entire argument...who is it that is forcing you to partake of this if it is so offensive to you? This victim mentality is pathetic, and far more disturbing to me that any other aspect of this discussion.

 

 

I watch very little TV

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One of the undiscussed negative externalities of watching commercial tv is the constant flow of advertisements that debase songs or music one might actually love. There is no way that it isn
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All hell IS breaking loose outside your window. The fact that you refer to a song in a commercial as a problem in this day and age is comical.

 

If this is a big problem to you then your watching the news all wrong. go back and watch it again.

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Not watching TV is like pulling the blinds? That's just ass backwards. I happen to think it's one of the most politcal acts an American citizen can do on a daily basis.

 

And what eyeball said. ^

 

Just because I don

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All hell IS breaking loose outside your window. The fact that you refer to a song in a commercial as a problem in this day and age is comical.

 

If this is a big problem to you then your watching the news all wrong. go back and watch it again.

 

 

Well, using that logic

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The way I look at it is this, emotional baggage or not: It's a song in a commercial. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Someone on another board commented on it thusly, and I think he kind of sums it up very nicely without all that annoying sentimental "THE MUSIC BELONGS TO ME" crap: "VW came to Wilco, not the other way around. They weren't out whoring themselves to companies and only lending their tunes to the highest bidder. If they did maybe I'd have a 'problem' with it but for me its a BFD moment.

 

An artist is someone who produces their art without needing pay. When they won't produce that art unless for money they cease to be an artist.

 

That hasn't happened here."

 

Yeah, I can agree with that to a certain degree. I'd actually have been a bit happier if they were a bit more involved in the ad - personally - depending on how it turned out (the white stripes one being an example of one i thought turned out quite badly, but could have been good) - otherwise, to me, it's just another shitty car ad with a bit of music I like. Really the proof of all this will be how things pan out over the next few years or so with their music.

 

One thing I will say though (and this came from a documentary I saw a while back on Ivor Cutler - although I am making up most of the details cos I can't remember them), which is an attitude I'd prefer musicians to take: When Ivor Cutler was phoned up by some University events manager some years ago (can't remember the Uni), and they asked him if he'd come and perform for them at the student union. He asked, as is the norm, "Well, for how much?" The events manager said, "Oh,

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[snip]

It violates an implicit contract between yourself and your work.

[snip]

The problem is, the ones who seem to have implied this contract are the "fans," not the artists. I guess I've got the right to tell an artist how I, as a fan of his work, would like to see him use his...actually, I don't.

 

Not many musicians today would take that attitude, which is why I think very few modern artists are quite as poor as Ivor Cutler.

:lol

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In the long run, what do you think the odds are that those who dislike the idea of a Wilco song in a commercial actually sit and watch the commercial thinking cool, I get to hear Wilco on TV. But then they still come in here and rail about the sell out.

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i'm gone from posting for 3 weeks and come back to THIS??? wtf???

is this board going to hell over a non-album song used in a freakin' commercial?

 

seriously?

 

wow

 

at least it's used in a vw ad and not for kia or hyundai. with all the industry slights to the band over the years and being ignored by commercial radio on a regular basis, i don't fault them at all for using a song (not on the album) in a commercial. seriously, if they were all over the radio and tv already i might question the need. but that is not the case now..is it? NO...NO it's NOT. i hear they may throw in a couple other songs as well. i'm fine with it. i don't watch that much tv anyway and it doesn't change my perception of the band at all.

 

get over your "issues" people. jeff has more integrity in the biz imo than most other artists. why call him out on this? are you really true fans? i'm just asking. because i am and i always will be. jeff is a talented, hard working artist who deserves to be rewarded for his efforts. and while he is a very giving person, he has a family to take care of. please quit with the petty b.s.

 

maybe i'll just take the summer off again...geez...

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