Why is There So Much Awful Music in Advertising?

When someone says you have good taste in music, what they mean is that you like the same music as them. There’s no science involved. It’s tribal. It means ‘we think alike and aren’t we great’ – and most of us are guilty of thinking this way

Music is hard-wired into our internal psyche. We have no control over it. Our feelings about it are based on a lifetime of experiences: our parents’ favourite albums, the music from the local cafe, early morning radio, the song that was playing when Samantha Dicks laughed at you when you asked her to dance at your first school disco, all determine what we like and, probably more importantly, what we really don’t like. Understanding this bias is key when it comes to choosing music for an advert.

We all know how important music is when it comes to a spot’s success yet we strangely fail to employ any kind of method to make sure that the music selection process happens effectively.

I hate it… but it works!

The idea of trying to get a group of creative individuals to agree on one piece of music in a short period of time is, potentially, deeply flawed and often leads to deeply flawed music. When it comes to choosing a director, countless meetings are had, weeks are spent briefing production companies and pawing over treatments to get the visual look just right, but music briefing is often left to the last minute.

Music should be on the agenda from an ad’s very inception – and its choice approached forensically. Should it be ‘big’? Slow? What style is right? Who is the ad aimed at? Demographically, does that style have any relevance? Will it be understood? Is it legal? How can we tick all of the boxes above and still create something worth listening to? To answer all these questions agencies need music supervisors and not just a music company whose end game is to sell them something. It’ll be cheaper in the long run. In the same way that you’d ask a director for an opinion, why don’t you ask a composer/producer for one?

When you go to a posh restaurant you usually have to deal with a sommelier. They can be a bit intimidating, but they’re also a fountain of knowledge. They’ve tried everything so you don’t have to and, irrespective of their personal preferences, they can help you choose something you’re going to love. A music professional – like a sommelier and unlike a music enthusiast – doesn’t have to love something to see its worth. They might actively dislike a certain style but still recognise its relevance.

M People’s Heather Small was constantly referenced as a powerful, distinctive voice in the late 1990s. Personally, her singing makes my teeth itch, but I can see the value and relevance of her style even though I wouldn’t choose to listen to her for pleasure.

A good sommelier will know how to help the inexperienced wine drinker describe what they want. An experienced music producer will know the right questions to ask you if you can only say things like “I don’t really know, but I feel it should be small and… purple.” Let us help you. Then include all of the relevant people in the conversation. Resist the temptation to work on tracks in isolation for weeks on end only to be dismissed brutally by your ECD or, ultimately, your client. I’ve seen so many fantastic ideas shot down in flames because clients were presented with something they just weren’t expecting. If you can get everybody involved in the conversation from day one then the chances of great ideas being derailed diminish.

Nothing good comes from an orgy

Having said that, music created by committee is probably the main reason why there is so much awful music on TV. So beware. What usually happens is someone finds an edgy, cool reference. Everybody loves it but it’s too cool, too edgy, so they say “Let’s make it brighter with a big intro, a much bigger build and an even bigger ‘ta-dah’ moment on the pack shot.” Then you add some strings, take the strings away, make it happier still.

Eventually, you end up with a compromise, which in advertising means a piece of music that no one really likes, but by now everybody’s too bored and confused to keep arguing about – a bloodied and bruised piece of sonic awfulness, the discarded love child of an orgy of well meaning but confused parents.

There are many talented composers/producers out there who having been playing in bands for years and who have studied with legends at renowned educational institutions. Use them. Be wary of any self-styled music gurus who promise you a piece of music that is “all things to all people”. Such music doesn’t exist. Ask the right people at the right time and avoid terrible car-crashes, like spending hundreds of thousands on a Rolling Stones track before remembering Satisfaction also contains the words “I can’t get no”.

But get it right and music in advertising can be powerful, emotional, alchemy. It transforms good ads into great ones. You can be satisfied.