By JACKSON SILVANIK
Staff Writer
If you have watched any amount of television recently, you’ve undoubtedly seen some commercials featuring music that not only wouldn’t normally have been receiving popular rotation on radio stations, but would be largely unrecognizable to the majority of the commercial’s target audience.
You’ve definitely seen them, the various new Volkswagen ads featuring the music of Wilco and the new Ipod commercials showcasing indie-heroine Feist. There are countless examples, one commercial even going so far as to revolve almost entirely around the music of Lexington-based The Apples in Stereo, an underground act that has flown under the national radar for years.
Of course, this recent surge of allegedly “indie” artists allowing their music to flood the corporate and commercial television airwaves begs the question…who exactly is “selling out” here? Really, it would be easy to blame the advertising industry. In a trend that began years ago, when hit television show “The O.C.” began featuring notable indie acts such as Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie, marketing gurus have sought to tap in to that sense of elitism that listening to such bands seems to attract. But of course, the entire point of the marketing industry is to make money, so to point out that they are simply trying to cash in on a quietly raging trend is quite pointless.
Rather, one must question the ideals of these heralded indie heavyweights. While Wilco is no modern-radio success, the band has enjoyed a rather long and fruitful career, with a devoted and sizeable fanbase. Likewise, Feist enjoys a cult-like popularity among both her own fans and as part of the larger indie supergroup Broken Social Scene. Both examples are able to easily make a living off of their music, though it won’t be of the fame-and-riches variety. However, lets look at the situation as it really exists.
In this age of information, bands can rise and fall like the ebb and flow of the ocean. Rather than quietly but consistently existing, a band’s success is more likely to flash in the pan than fan into a consistent flame. Surely Jeff Tweedy, frontman of Wilco, cannot be blamed for making a decision that neither affects the integrity of the music he makes while simultaneously making a comfortable life and lucrative career financially possible. These artists are not manufacturing music for the sake of commercial appeal, the songs used were written and recorded long before they were sought after by marketing departments.
Jeff Tweedy saw the writing on the wall, and days before the Volkswagen commercials featuring his band’s music appeared, posted a preemptive strike of sorts in the form of a short diatribe on his website. Taking advantage of the tools that makes indie artists so successful, Tweedy warned his followers that they would be seeing their music in unexpected places, noting that they now had the chance to reach a wider audience and continue to fund new musical ventures with the added royalties.
Unless perceived indie artists start to seek commercial appeal solely for the sake of cashing in on this current trend, there is no reason to worry…you’d do the same thing. Relax, you hipsters, your favorite bands aren’t going anywhere, just get ready to hear them more often.
