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many cases, musicians are compensated for plugging brands. McDonald’s recently made an open-ended offer to any musician willing to plug the Big Mac, offering up to $7 for every time such a song is played on the radio. Considering top forty radio stations play the same five songs on repeat, this could provide hit-writing musicians, and especially bling-lusting rappers, adequate incentive to write about Big Macs, Happy Meals, or the entire Value Menu. In the past, marketers were more discrete: rather than publicly offering money, which could possibly damage the artist’s credibility and therefore promotional effectiveness, marketers typically offered musicians free merchandise, endorsement deals, crosspromotional money, or company stock. Occasionally musicians are compensated after the fact. Adidas gave Run DMC a 1.5 million dollar contract after their 1980s hit, “My Adidas.” Alternative compensation methods make it nearly impossible to distinguish a marketer-induced placement from an authentic reference. The increase in compensated brand references, called brand placements or product placements, is reflected by the rise of marketing agencies, including Agenda Inc. and Mavin Strategies who specialize in plugging brands through popular songs. What’s more, marketers sometimes compliment brand placements in popular songs with additional promotional. Polaroid centered an entire campaign around Outkast’s reference, “Shake it like a Polaroid picture,” in the hit “Hey Ya.” This marketing influence has compromised the originality and quality of song lyrics--some brand references are flagrantly sponsored, as in Petey Pablo’s song “Freek-a-leek,” where he raps, “Now I got to give a shout out to Seagram’s Gin/ ‘cos I’m drinkin’ it and they payin’ for it.” (Mavin Strategies helped place Seagram’s into the lyrics of this as well as four other hip-hop songs in 2004.) In other instances brand references seem arbitrary and detract from a song’s meaning. Madonna’s “American <strong>Life</strong>” is an example: “I drive a mini-cooper/And I’m feeling super-duper.” Many musicians don’t need incentive to plug brands in their songs, and frequently musicians use lyrics to promote their own brands. In his 2003 hit “Beautiful,” Snoop Dog raps about his own cleverly titled line of apparel, “Snoop Dog Clothing,” and in his cameo in “Drop it Like it’s Hot,” Pharrell Williams plugs his brand of “Ice Cream” sneakers. For hiphop entrepreneurs like Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, and P-Diddy, songs are merely a tactic for building awareness and brand image, or “street cred,” which they later leverage to sell more profitable products like clothing, perfume, beverages, or even snacks. Hip-hop is a $5 billion industry, only a fifth of which comes from record sales. The majority of “hip-hop” revenue comes from related products consumed under the burgeoning umbrella of hip-hop culture. (For more on hip-hop brands see the Hip-Hop Brand Extensions side-blurb.) What happened? At its inception, hip-hop stood for more than piles of benjamins and Bentleys. Public Enemy rap-pioneer Chuck D. once referred to hip-hop as “the black CNN.” A hip-hop record could expose a listener to realities that mainstream media didn’t reveal. Truth at least co-existed with bravado. With few exceptions such as Outkast or Eminem, modern mainstream hip-hop has the authenticity and soul of a Pepto-Bismol jingle. Chuck D recently lamented, “Fifteen years ago, rappers rapped for the people, where as today they rap and rep for their companies, because money dictates direction.” Rock-and-roll and hip-hop began as voices of rebellion. By giving a voice to a younger generation, early rock-and-roll helped bridge America’s racial divide and inspired the youth movement of the ‘60s. Similarly, by depicting the realities of black urban culture, the rise of hip-hop increased acceptability of African-American culture and renewed societal consciousness of inner city problems. The music inspired these changes because of its relevance to a large group of society and the unique voice of its message. The ability to affect people at different levels of society is what makes music work. If instead songs merely rehash messages from other media, music loses its impact and becomes either another hackneyed entertainment vehicle or obscure high-art. The biggest problem with the rise of commercialism in rock-and-roll is not that it contradicts initial anti-commercial sentiment, but that these plugs jeopardize the authenticity of the music’s messages. This problem is furthered in that commercial influence in music today is most rampant among the most popular musicians. The increasing commercial influence in hip-hop has paralleled the genre’s rise on the Billboard charts. Additionally, popular musicians in other genres are showing signs of overt commercialism, like Beyonce Knowles’ blatant Pepsi plug during the MTV Music Video Awards. Mainstream musicians have the ability to influence the masses, yet squander this opportunity by echoing marketing-motivated media. Licensing songs to advertisers presents musicians with a trade-off. Having a song in an advertisement will likely increase a band’s fan-base. On the other hand, the advertisement will likely muddle or distort the song’s intended message (See Section 1 of article from issue 13). Songs with sponsored brand-references cannot contain a legitimate independent message. Though a plug appears on one line of a song, sponsors will not pay for the brand placement unless the overall message or image of the music expresses what they want associated with the brand. Music glorifying commercialism and brand proliferation just mimics mainstream media. This music has no unique voice or independent message and, consequently, has no value beyond entertainment. If rock and roll and hip-hop are to remain an impact on society, popular musicians must maintain a voice independent from marketers. In a time of consolidated media and wildfire marketing clutter, society needs a raw, independent voice. I need an independent voice. Rock and roll once provided that voice, but is now in danger of becoming another meaningless corporate slave. --Caleb Warren 1 most people overlook this song’s satirical use of Mercedes and take the lyrics at face value, even Mercedes who used the song in a TV commercial. 2 to view the American Brandstand report, go to www.agendainc.com
The GagMe Awards Part II The GagMe awards are intended to honor and ridicule the best, worst, and most prevalent branded bands and banded brands. The last issue presented awards for music and advertising. This issue’s are for brands and bands who have exceeded all rationale and bounds for good taste by integrating brand names into the lyrical content of songs. Billboard Brand Royalty 1 - Cadillac: mentioned 73 times in top 20 songs in 2004, has references ranging from Lightning Hopkins, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen to Outkast. 2 - Hennessy: A favorite of Tupac in the 90’s with 69 top 20 mentions in 2004. “We can kick it and go puff on a bluuunt / Oh you don’t smoke? Grab a pint of Hen’ then we can get druuunk” (Chingy – One Call Away) 3 - Mercedes: mentioned nearly 200 times in top 20 songs in 2003 and 2004, the topic of a classic Janis Joplin tune. Biggest Brand Lyric-Sluts 1 - L’il Kim referenced 14 different brands in her 2003 hit, “Jump Off.” Skank! 2 - Kanye West referenced 19 brands in his 4 top 20 singles in 2004 (though many meant to satirize, not promote, gross materialism). “I drink Boost and Ensure for dessert/ Somebody ordered Pancakes, I just sip the Sizzurp,” from “Through the Wire.” 3 - Petey Pablo is the lyricist with the most obviouslypaid-for brand allusion for: “Now I gotta give a shout out to Seagram’s gin, ‘cos I’m drinkin’ it and they payin’ for it.” Biggest Brand Buddies 1 - Run DMC, “My Adidas” inspired a fashion trend and won the rappers a $1.5 million dollar endorsement deal. 2 - Bob Seger, “Like A Rock” became the center of Chevy’s campaign in the 1990s and solidified the position of Chevy trucks as rugged, All-American, all-terrain vehicles. 3 - Busta Rhymes, “Pass the Courvoisier.” It’s still uncertain if Busta was prompted to write this song by the liquor brand. In any event, the song became a number one hit and introduced Courvoisier to the hip and ghettofabulous. Bands and Their Brands: Brand References in Song Lyrics Just as people infer the personality of a brand from the personality of its consumers, you can often get to know a songwriter by the brands he or she sings about. This mentions a few brands referenced by a variety of popular musicians. The Beach Boys: Ford Thunderbird in “Fun Fun Fun”; Corvette in “In My Car”; Honda in “Little Honda” Modest Mouse: Orange Julius in “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine”; Coca-cola in “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes”; Dramamine and Listerine in “Dramamine” George Thorogood: Budweiser and Miller Light in “If You Don’t Start Drinkin’”; Budweiser, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Old Granddad (whiskey), and Johnnie Walker in “I Drink Alone” Kanye West: Avis and Lexus in “Jesus Walks”; Geico and Toys ‘R’ Us in “Through the Wire”; and Nike Air Jordans, Mercedes, and Jacob the Jeweler in “All Falls Down” Tom Waits: Shell (gasoline) in “Frank’s Wild Years”; Schwab’s (drug store) in “Invitation to the Blues”; Greyhound (bus) in “The One That Got Away”; Chivas Regal in “Downtown” 50 Cent: Bentley, Hennessey and Mercedes in “Disco Inferno”; Bentley and Mercedes in “21 Questions”; and K- Mart and Mercedes in “In Da Club” Best Branded Cocktails 1 - 50 Cent, “Disco Inferno”; “You mix a little Coke with a little Dom Perignon / And a little Hennessey you know we fine to carry on.” 2 - Bruce Springsteen, “Johnny 99”; “He came home too drunk from mixin’ Tanqueray and wine/ Got a gun, shot a night-clerk, now they call him Johnny 99.” 3 - Juvenile, “Slow Motion”; “I like how them Victoria’s Secrets sit in the ass / Lemme pour some more Hp(notiq) and Hennessy in your glass.” Bruce Springsteen: Chevrolet in “Thunder Road”; Seven- Eleven and Chevrolet in “Racing in the Streets”, Cadillac, Honda and Subaru in “Pink Cadillac” Outkast: Polaroid and Cadillac in “Hey Ya”; Volkswagon, Pontiac Bonneville, and Cadillac (Coup de Ville) in “Aquemini”; and Cadillac in “Two Dope Boys” Prince: Corvette in “Little Red Corvette”; Disney in “Lady Cab Driver”; Cadillac in “Jack You Off” Lynyrd Skynyrd: Johnny Walker in “Poison Whiskey”; and Old Granddad in “Whiskey Rock a Roller” Chuck Berry: Cadillac and Ford in “No Money Down”; TWA (Airlines) in “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”; Cadillac & Ford in “Maybellene”; Chevrolet in “You Never Can Tell” Jay-Z: Burberry and Timberland in “’03 Bonnie and Clyde”; Maybach, Rolls Royce, and U-haul in “Change Clothes”; and Armadale (vodka), Maybach, and Cristal in “Excuse Me Miss” Radiohead: Prozac in “Bones”, Gucci in “Paranoid Android”; and Time magazine in “Myxomatosis” Hip-hop Brand Extensions Many rappers use music to create hip-hop branded empires. For contemporary mainstream rappers, nothing is too commercial or mundane to be packaged and pawned as hip-hop. Here are a few musicians and their affiliated products… Jay-Z: Rocawear apparel, Armadale vodka, and S. Carter Collection sneakers with Reebok P-Diddy: Sean Jean apparel Eve: Fetish clothing Eminem: Shady Casual Sportswear J-Lo: Glow perfume, J-Lo & Sweetface clothing Nelly: Pimp Juice Lil’ Jon: Crunk Juice Pharrell Williams: Ice Cream Sneakers Snoop Dog: Snoop Dog Clothing 50 Cent: G-Unit clothing Wu Tang Clan: Wu Wear apparel Russell Simmons: Phat Pharm clothing Britney Spears: Curious perfume Jessica Simpson: Dessert (edible!) make-up Ruff Riders: Thug Workout apparel & Ruff Ryder dog food Rap Snacks: a new brand of food dawning the visages of hip-hip icons from Warren G to L’il Romeo.
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