Developing: Why Stephen Why?
So, I’m sitting around, watching some tv, Seinfeld reruns most likely, and my ears perk up during a commercial. I’m thinking what is this?!? None other than Steven Malkmus pawning washers for Sears. Anyway the song they pulled was “Phantasies” from his self/titled debut solo album, the song in particular doesn’t have much to do with washers though.
I often go back and forth about the songs in commercials thing, I go from the aspect if corporations are going to be giant and souless, they might as well commission good art by way of putting their songs in their commercials, it worked for The Shins, they appear in a McDonald’s commercial, they take the money build a studio in their basement and give us another awesome album, but what about the artists themselves. Are they compromising anything to have thier songs used in commercials? Franz Ferdinand, which we found out was anything but clean (see: payola), had their song “Take Me Out” used as pretty much the anthem for the Sony PSP, even though the editors thought it would be a good idea to cut the guitar lead to make it fit the time slot. That would be the kind of thing that would piss me off as an artist.