Has any artist admitted to writing a song just so it would sound good on ads and sporting events?

[griffin1977]

Some songs (e.g. Blur's "Song 2") have probably made more money from adverts and being played at sporting events than they have from traditional means (I'm not sure what the royalties situation is with being played at sporting events, but I'm sure Song 2 got more publicity that way than regular radio).

Has any artist admitted writing a song specifically so it would get played this way ? I don't mean being paid by a specific company to write a song. But choosing the lyrics and music in such a way as SOME company are bound to want to use it in ad.

[mac_bolan00]

ermmm... ad jinggles is an industry all on its own and has a well-developed creative component.

[typoink]

ermmm... ad jinggles is an industry all on its own and has a well-developed creative component.

I don't think the OP is unaware. The question is basically this: has any artist purposely recorded music in the hopes of it being snagged for commercial use without it being commissioned for that purpose and without explicitly stating that was the purpose ahead of time?

I have to believe the answer is yes, but can't recall ever hearing such confirmed.

[RealityChuck]

It's hard to believe that Queen wasn't thinking this as a possibility when they wrote "We Are the Champions."

[Hippy Hollow]

I've heard Sting refer to "We'll Be Together" as a "beer commercial."

For some reason I get the vibe that Genesis' "Tonight" was written as a jingle.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Isn't that what Black Eyed Peas have been doing for he last decade (at least)?

[E-Sabbath]

As I understand it, yes: Smashmouth, All Star.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/All_Star_%28song%29

[lisiate]

I was going to nominate Moby's entire album Play (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_(Moby_album)) as an example but there's a quote denying this on the wikipedia page. Still every single track on the album was licensed out.

[Joey P]

I believe I heard, in an interview with Brian May, that when Freddie Mercury wrote We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You, he wrote it very specifically to sound good in an arena with the idea that it would be played during sporting events.

[gaffa]

Todd Rundgren had an unintentional sports arena hit with the monumentally stupid "Bang The Drum All Day". So he wrote a song called "Mountaintop" on his 2008 album Arena specifically to be a sports anthem. Didn't work.

[Joey P]

Todd Rundgren had an unintentional sports arena hit with the monumentally stupid "Bang The Drum All Day". So he wrote a song called "Mountaintop" on his 2008 album Arena specifically to be a sports anthem. Didn't work.
If nothing else, I'm sure a lot of radio stations play that song every Friday at 5pm.

[Chronos]

"Song 2" is the Hey song, right?

[Argent Towers]

Hey Soul Sister by Train has to have deliberately been written with commercial royalties in mind. Everything about Train's music screams "designed to be used in commercials/previews."

[Sunshine and Smiles]

"Song 2" is the Hey song, right?

Song #2 by Blur is the "Woo-hoo!" song. I remember reading that it was written as a sort of parody of American rock and grunge, but I'm coming up a bit short in looking for a cite.

Rock 'n' Roll, pt. 2 by Gary Glitter is the "Hey!" song. Which would also be a good suggestion for this thread. On a related note, that new Black Keys song that has the line "Baby, I'm howling for you" was inspired by the drums on RnR, pt.2

[Nobody]

Song #2 by Blur is the "Woo-hoo!" song. I remember reading that it was written as a sort of parody of American rock and grunge, but I'm coming up a bit short in looking for a cite.
What I remember hearing was something along the lines that someone told told them (Blur) that they'd never make it big in America because they sounded too British, so this was their, "Oh yeah? We'll show you." type response.


As for the OP, that's a tough one. I can think of artists willingly licensing their music out for commercials, but that's not the same thing as writing them as jingles in the first place.

[gaffa]

Found the interview:

Q: Was “Mountaintop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9TnD-g-UIk)” a conscious effort to write a sports anthem?

A: I already wrote one by accident [Rundgren’s “Bang the Drum All Day,” which came to him in a dream, is played after every Green Bay Packers touchdown and at sporting events nationwide], so I thought, “What if I did it on purpose?” “Mountaintop” is the Yardbirds, ZZ Top, Queen, and Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Pt. 2.” I was trying to get every sports anthem in the world into one song. Part of it was all about getting to the “One step, higher, higher, another step, higher, higher” call-and-answer stuff in the middle and just trying to figure out a way to get there. Oh yeah, there’s also Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” in there.

[GuanoLad]

Check out the works of E.S. Posthumus.

[pulykamell]

On a related note, that new Black Keys song that has the line "Baby, I'm howling for you" was inspired by the drums on RnR, pt.2

Yeah, first time I heard that song, I was like "Wow, the Black Keys really are angling to be on a Jock Jams compilation aren't they?" That song sounds like a cross between "Rock n Roll Part II: and the Fratelli's "Chelsea Dagger," both songs associated with sports. (And even the opening drums of "Chelsea Dagger" are somewhat reminiscent of "Rock and Roll Part II.") If that song isn't written specifically for the sports crowd, I don't know what is.

[Snowboarder Bo]

If John Fogerty didn't do it on purpose, "Centerfield (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KQydlJ-qc)" sure sounds like it was written to be played at baseball games.

[Smapti]

I'm fairly sure Rick Derringer wrote "Real American" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGuhZvO1DKg) with the intent of it playing in arenas.

[dalej42]

There are a lot of songs being nominated here that were released before sporting events played a lot of popular musics. It wasn't until the 1990s that you'd hear a lot of pop music at arenas.

[corkboard]

I was going to nominate Moby's entire album Play (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_(Moby_album)) as an example but there's a quote denying this on the wikipedia page. Still every single track on the album was licensed out.

I came in here to mention Play. Notwithstanding the Wikipedia comment, I'm pretty sure I saw an interview with Moby in which he admitted that he intentionally wrote the album to have the greatest possible licensing potential.

[Doug K.]

Not quite the same thing, but Alice Cooper wrote and recorded "The Man With the Golden Gun" on the "Muscle of Love" album after seeing "Bond will be back in The Man With the Golden Gun" at the end of "Live and Let Die". They (the whole band, not just Alice) were hoping to convince them (Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli) to use it as the theme for the next movie. It didn't work, but it is a good song.

[RealityChuck]

Rock 'n' Roll, pt. 2 by Gary Glitter is the "Hey!" song. Which would also be a good suggestion for this thread. 2The song was not written for sports in mind. The first half of the song ("Rock and Roll, Part One") was clearly designed as dance music and it's lyrics are all about rock and roll and dancing. It was supposed to be a single song, actually, but it was released in two parts as a single. Part 2 did well in the US and a few years later was picked up by sports teams.

Gary Glitter doesn't strike me as being the type to be interested in sports, unless it was being played by young boys. :eek:

[sciurophobic]

Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" sounds like a possible contender.

[kunilou]

There are the circuitous routes taken by We've Only Just Begun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We've_Only_Just_Begun) and C.W. McCall's Old Home Filler-Up an' Keep on a-Truckin' Cafe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._W._McCall), which were written as songs for advertising, but not as jingles.

Another song you figure must have been written with intent to sell out is We Built This City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Built_This_City)

[E-Sabbath]

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/I%27d_Like_to_Teach_the_World_to_Sing_%28In_Perfect_Harmony%29

How about 'I'd like to buy the world a Coke'?

[corkboard]

Considering how much they've licensed their name, logo and images over the years, it's surprising Kiss never ventured into writing music with more universal appeal. They could probably create some kick-ass sports-crowd pleasers. I don't think Lick It Up would be a very effective commercial jingle.

[sangfroid]

Wiz Khalifa's Black and Yellow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_yellow) seems to fit the bill. The wiki mentions that is was written with Pittsburgh sports teams in mind. Not much of a reach to expect it'll get played this football season. #1 billboard hit, if that means anything to anyone these days.

[Jonathan Chance]

I believe I heard, in an interview with Brian May, that when Freddie Mercury wrote We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You, he wrote it very specifically to sound good in an arena with the idea that it would be played during sporting events.

Close!

I caught an interview last year with Brian about precisely this issue. He said that during their mid-70s tours they noticed fans singing along with songs that they didn't think were singalong songs. So the two of them determined (Freddie's idea) to write some songs for their next album that would try to harness that need in their fans to participate.

Brian went on to say that they both went off one evening on the road to write and the next morning Brian showed Freddie 'We Will Rock You' and Freddie showed Brian 'We are the Champions' and the rest is history.

So, yes, they set out to write songs that would be huge stadium show singalongs. But not for the stated purpose of sports promotion. That came later and, I'm certain, has made them a great deal of licensing dollars.

[gaffa]

Close!

Beuler? Beuler?

I actually produced an interview with a songwriter who has a song that is used in commercials and sporting events who tried to do so again.

What do I win?

[Becky2844]

Take Me Out to the Ballgame?

[Jim's Son]

Considering how much they've licensed their name, logo and images over the years, it's surprising Kiss never ventured into writing music with more universal appeal. They could probably create some kick-ass sports-crowd pleasers. I don't think Lick It Up would be a very effective commercial jingle.

Several years ago the IRL (Indy Racing League) did hire Gene Simmons to write a song for them "I am Indy". It has been ridiculed by open wheel fans.

I wonder if Elton John had Sassoon jeans in mind when he did "Sad Songs (pay so much)" They sure turned it into a commercial awfully quick.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Slade implores a team to just Give Us a Goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUKze6da7Uo).