I Still Believe In Advertising
I consider myself rather impervious to most advertising. In fact, around the SDDWN homestead one of our favorite pastimes is to pick apart television ads. I never listen to the radio, and most ads on my daily commute are rather poorly executed.
Every now and then, though, something worms its way into my head. This is how I came to purchase La Roux's self-titled album.
It started with a strangely off-putting soundtrack to a commercial for the video game Bayonetta. For some reason the music seemed just a bit "off", which, after about 10 or so viewings, was enough to make me look up who performed this compellingly weird vocal.
Turns out it was La Roux, and apparently they already had a rather large European following. I had never heard the name before. I found out that the song on the commercial was called "In For The Kill", and this particular version was actually a remix by someone named Skeram. Curious, I checked out the original version and, like most original versions, I found it to be a better song. The vocal that had been tweaking my ear felt more appropriate in the original version of the track.
Mystery solved, I went on my merry way.
I hadn't heard the song in a while, but I'd thought of it a few times... it's catchy, and sort of shares a title with a song I wrote in 2008. I don't buy music as much as I'd like to (I'm not rich, you know), but when I have a chance I leaf through the vinyl at my local record shop. This evening I was doing just that and happened upon the La Roux LP.
"I do want to hear the rest of this," I thought. And I don't download music/buy from iTunes. So, I picked it up.
It is doubtful that I would have come across this album if the remix hadn't been placed in a commercial. Even then, it had just the right "Huh Factor" for me to look and listen deeper.
I don't know why some things hit me that way, but when they do it resonates.
The rest of the album is quite good, in case you were wondering. If you like electro-pop type music, you should check it out. The vinyl LP is pressed with 180 gram vinyl... hefty. And of course it comes with a free download of all the songs as mp3s, as all vinyl should at this point.
For those out there who look down on labels and song placement, I have to say that I don't share your opinion. Certainly there are some extremely poor choices that bands and companies make when using music for marketing, but when done right, it has the desired effect of garnering interest in both the product and the music.
I haven't discovered much music from TV commercials, but I've certainly noticed music I already like cropping up in commercials a lot lately... songs by Phoenix and Grizzly Bear, in particular, come to mind.
I think musicians and the more with-it music labels are recognizing that they can't rely on radio exposure like they used to, and since MTV doesn't show music videos anymore, commercials and placement in TV and movies are pretty much all that's left. It definitely helps my impression of a commercial if cool music is playing in it... not that even Phoenix could convince me I want a Cadillac.
As far as radio goes -- commercial radio is terrible, but we're lucky here in Minneapolis to have a great true "alternative rock" public radio station. And fortunately for the rest of the world, it's streaming online:
http://thecurrent.org
(You can find the stream in iTunes Radio under Alternative. I sometimes listen to it that way even though I'm local, because I don't have a radio in my office!)