It's a virus

Years ago, Tom Waits, who is notoriously uncomfortably toward corporations, wrote a beautiful letter criticizing musicians who allow their songs to be featured in commercials in exchange for a handful of money.

The letter, published by Dangerous Minds, Letters of Note, and The Nation, among others, contains some non-trivial concepts that might escape a first reading of the phenomenon. For example:

When you sell your music to companies, you also sell your audience, because they will use it to convince people to buy cars, drinks, and underwear;
Corporations hope to divert a culture's memories to their products (which are actually completely unrelated);
They want an artist's audience, their credibility, their reputation, and all the energy their songs have concentrated over the years.

I realize that talking about ethics in 2014 may seem a bit prudish, but the reality is that a musician who achieves fame carries a certain amount of power over people and shouldn't allow it to be used for anything in exchange for money. This is the beautiful side of copyright: the ability of the composer to prohibit the use of their music in certain contexts. And it's not necessarily a case of losing, as Ligeti and Tom Waits himself teach: sometimes corporations are so brazen that by taking them to task, you win (Ligeti won against the producers of 2001: A Space Odyssey who had dismantled and used his song Atmosphères, while Tom Waits received $2.6 million from Frito-Lay for remaking one of his songs).

Here is the original letter, already republished here

Thank you for your eloquent “rant” by John Densmore of The Doors on the subject of artists allowing their songs to be used in commercials [“Riders on the Storm,” July 8]. I spoke out whenever possible on the topic even before the Frito Lay case (Waits v. Frito Lay), where they used a sound-alike version of my song “Step Right Up” so convincingly that I thought it was me. Ultimately, after much trial and tribulation, we prevailed and the court determined that my voice is my property.

Songs carry emotional information and some transport us back to a poignant time, place or event in our lives. It’s no wonder a corporation would want to hitch a ride on the spell these songs cast and encourage you to buy soft drinks, underwear or automobiles while you’re in the trance. Artists who take money for ads poison and pervert their songs. It reduces them to the level of a jingle, a word that describes the sound of change in your pocket, which is what your songs become. Remember, when you sell your songs for commercials, you are selling your audience as well.

When I was a kid, if I saw an artist I admired doing a commercial, I’d think, “Too bad, he must really need the money.” But now it’s so pervasive. It’s a virus. Artists are lining up to do ads. The money and exposure are too tantalizing for most artists to decline. Corporations are hoping to hijack a culture’s memories for their product. They want an artist’s audience, credibility, good will and all the energy the songs have gathered as well as given over the years. They suck the life and meaning from the songs and impregnate them with promises of a better life with their product.

Eventually, artists will be going onstage like race-car drivers covered in hundreds of logos. John, stay pure. Your credibility, your integrity and your honor are things no company should be able to buy.

TOM WAITS

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