I remember late in 1996 when Great Uncle Helmer had finally prepared the CD old man will travel for release. I felt sort of ambivalent about selling music for money. Would I sell my heart? My liver? In what was then the future, would I sell my children? No. And my music was (is?) just that important to me. But we did it and it was fine. I learned that people like something more if they pay for it. They are literally invested in liking it. (Which isn't to say I haven't ever seen used copies of old man will travel for sale on amazon.) And we've probably only sold 400 copies or so, so even if it felt wrong somehow (which ultimately it didn't) it wasn't wrong on the scale of, say, Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975 wrong.
Now, in 2008, a new frontier has been breached. No, I haven't really sold more albums. I wish. However, I recently created some music for an ad campaign. I know that bands, even bands with a certain level of integrity, do this nowadays, but they didn't used to. When I was a teenager one reason I put Bruce Springsteen in a different category than Madonna was that Madonna sold Pepsi and Springsteen sold absolutely nothing except his music. But now Bob Dylan is selling underwear, U2 is selling disposable electronics, and commercials in general are just another way for bands to get their songs heard in an increasingly fractured marketplace. (Springsteen is still untouchable by advertisers as far as I know, but I have my own issues with him.) Still, I can't imagine I would ever sell, say, Rio Grande to promote some product, but let me explain what I did do and why I think it is cool.
My wife works at an ad agency. She is, in fact, the creative director and I'm very proud of her and how hard she works. She needed music, fast, for a viral video. Bride's coworkers in the creative department had despaired of getting original music done in time for the client pitch, as the client was working on a short schedule. This was my chance.
Her agency is pitching the video to a potential client as a way to promote the use of Medicare Part B in health care billing. As it was explained to me this will be a way for health care billing to be better organized, standardized, simplified, and internet-based. Because I use online services for almost everything now and find it far more useful than the old ways, this was something I could promote wholeheartedly without any conflict of interest or ethical hang-ups.
Bride showed me her scripts for the videos featuring a character named Betty who is in the billing department of a health care concern. She is the best at what she does, but she is very old school. Over the course of the videos she adjusts to the new, online way of doing things, casting aside her sharpened pencils, envelopes, stamps, and reams of paper. This was an apealing vision to me and immediately I had catchy music in my head. Like I would with any other musical idea, I taped (that's on a cassette, kids) a quick version of it then started working in the studio. When Bride came down after the kids were asleep, I had drum machine and guitar tracks finished.
We polished the lyrics and crafted the vocals together, laughing a lot. We made introductory theme music and three versions of a brief closing theme, one for each video. It was fun!
Now the client is hesitating a bit and has put off the meeting at which they will hear the music and see the video script. I am really, really hoping they hear it and they like it. I did a remix after some of Bride's coworkers said they couldn't understand the words, but the music received a generally very positive reaction at the agency.
Benefits:
1) A fun, creative night in the studio with my wife.
2) Promoting something I agree with.
3) If it is accepted, I will get at least FIVE TIMES the amount of money I get from playing, say, a Lazy Susan show (currently my most lucrative musical endeavour), which takes far longer and requires a great deal more hauling of gear, driving, etc.
4) This money will all go straight back in to the production of other Memphis music and/or to charity.
5) It could lead to more such fun, lucrative work.
6) It could lead to more attention for my other music.
Drawbacks: 1)...uh...Yeah, I can't think of any. My fans will associate my music with a commercial product? Umm, no. For one thing, not enough fans. Plus, the only people that will see this particular video if it is accepted (fingers crossed) are the people for whom it is relevant. I am not aware of the two sets "Memphis Evans fans" and "health care industry billing professionals" having much, if any, crossover. (Although after this who knows?)
So...sellout? No. I did the right thing, I'm proud of it, and I am eager to do it again if I get the opportunity. Maybe I should have gone in this direction a long, long time ago.
But you know, I'd always welcome the thoughts and opinions of others who wish to comment at the blog.
Oh, and I will also post mp3s of the music here if it doesn't get bought.
Memphis Evans is always sleepy.
