The late great Kurt Cobain has been featured in the news recently. Last week, it was announced that Kurt passed Elvis for the number one spot on Forbes.com's list of "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities.” Last year, Kurt, racked up a walloping 50 million dollars in revenue. Courtney Love, who owns the publishing rights to Kurt's music, sold a portion of those rights to Primary Wave Music Publishing. Primary Wave, has now licensed the Nirvana song, Come as You Are, for use in a future episode of the T.V. show, CSI. Primary Wave has promised that "we're going to remain very tasteful, and we're going to
[retain] the spirit of Nirvana and take Nirvana places it's never
been before." I guess that place is CSI????
Some musicians refuse to sell their songs for commercial use. (See Bruce Springsteen) Conversely, Pete Townshend has sold almost every classic The Who song for commercial exploitation. (See Hummer) Here’s Pete’s take on the issue:
"These songs are my property. They came out of my head. I have every right to do whatever I want with them. You own your personal reactions to them and whatever memories they evoke for you, but the songs are entirely mine and I will use them any way I like." (via CBS news)
Townshend makes an interesting point, a point that most hip-hop artists would champion in their personal quest to become "a business, man.” Jay-Z, the CEO of hip-hop and walking billboard, is the epitome of the synergy between music and corporate sponsorship. (See his Budweiser Select ad, HP ad, and Reebok ad) This leads to the inevitable question. Does anybody really care if a song is used to sell a product? Does it tarnish or pervert the integrity of the music? Or as Townshend points out, does it only tarnish our personal memory and affinity for the song? Is Jay-Z less credible? Recently, Indie rock bands have been licensing their music to support a plethora of products. (See Spoon, Cat Power, Karen O ) Punk Bands from the 70's argue, we never got paid, so it's about time. (See Ramones) Maybe it is about time these musicians are paid. People don't seem to mind that their favorite songs are being used to hawk products. It's a win-win situation. Who knows, maybe the Angry Citizen will succumb to corporate sponsorship. Stay tuned. To end the discussion, here's author, David Eggers, on selling out:
But this sellout manual serves only the
lazy and small. Those who bestow sellouthood upon their former heroes are
driven to do so by, first and foremost, the unshakable need to reduce.
The average one of us - a taker-in of various and constant media, is absolutely
overwhelmed - as he or she should be - with the sheer volume of artistic
output in every conceivable medium given to the world every day - it is
simply too much to begin to process or comprehend - and so we are forced
to try to sort, to reduce. We designate, we label, we diminish, we create
hierarchies and categories.
First, I was a sellout because Might magazine
took ads.
Then I was a sellout because our pages
were color, and not stapled together at the Kinko's.
Then I was a sellout because I went to
work for Esquire.
Now I'm a sellout because my book has
sold many copies.
And because I have done many interviews.
And because I have let people take my
picture.
And because my goddamn picture has been
in just about every fucking magazine and newspaper printed in America.
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