Thinking of licensing your song so that it can be used for an ad campaign? You sure? John Densmore shares his thoughts in arcitlce for The Daily Beast:
With music sales dwindling, many groups try to get a leg up by lending their songs to sell products. My new book, The Doors: Unhinged Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes on Trial tackles this subject in detail. In fact, I was counter-sued for not allowing this to happen. I certainly don’t condemn a new band hawking stuff to pay the rent, but after one gets a toehold on success, maybe it’s good to drop the soundtrack to “Love Me Two Times … cause I just took Viagra.” Although there are some really “cool” ads by some really “cool” directors. Millions of bucks are spent to make them really “cool.” But the bottom line is that you’re changing the meaning of your lyrics. As Tom Waits said in a letter to The Nation in response to my piece on this subject, “corporations are hoping to hijack a culture’s memories for their product. They want an artist’s audience, credibility, good will and the energy the songs have gathered as well as given over the years. They suck the life and meaning from the songs and impregnate them with promises of a better life with their product.”
