# Would this work in advertising - your thoughts please? Wonderful life - Black



## DervishCapkiner (Dec 10, 2016)




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## alexballmusic (Jan 15, 2017)

Hi,

Nice cover of this song.

Your question "Would this work in advertising". I work for an ad agency and have worked on several hundred ad campaigns as music producer, so I hope I can give some sort of accurate answer to that. 

Very generally, brands tend to be about:

Having a positive image
And/or feeling welcoming
And/or being charming, humorous, 
And/or being very cool
And/or feeling emotive

This song would probably only fall into ads in the final category. The big sweeping cinematic ones, or the ads based more around a more personal story. 

Your biggest problem is that "Premier Inn" used a Katie Melua cover of it in 2015 and that will put off UK brands using it for a while. Unless it's a totally unrelated product and the brand doesn't mind. Are you UK based?

Funnily enough, we once looked at licensing this very song for a campaign about seven years ago. It was an ad about online bullying and was used quite poignantly. We used something else in the end that had a more positive outlook, but this song was in consideration at one point.

Another issue is that brands like a signed band to do their covers for them because they can work with the associated PR. As the clearance fees on the publishing side are often very expensive, they might as well get a premium cover of it done too, rather than a music company or composer (I can understand their logic here).

So in a nutshell, I'd say it would be difficult to get an ad sync in the UK with this because of Katie Melua, and possibly difficult in general due to brands wanting signed artists to do their covers. Which is probably annoying to hear because it doesn't hinge on the actual quality of your version! But it's how it is.

Nice cover though!


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## DervishCapkiner (Jan 18, 2017)

Thank you very much for your detailed reply, I really appreciate the time you've taken to give me what I would regard as a realistic, professional and also thoughtful reply - thank you. I have started writing some music to put in a reel for advertising as my thoughts were games and films until recently, I may even have something in the pipeline in the next couple months ( fingers crossed) however , I just wanted to see what the consensus on 'cinematic covers' of pop songs would be as that seems like quite a popular thing on really big blockbuster advertisements ( Forzia computer game, John Lewis Christmas ad, new Transformers trailer etc etc in the last few months) However, I do realise each advert is very specific unto itself and now you have explained that criteria to me, I see it would be much more relevant to actually do a cover to an ad before i even asked. On top of that, it sounds as if it would also be much less hassle to actually just write a new piece in a 'cinematic style' , specific for the ad.

Thank you again Alex Ball! Do you have a link to your website so I may have a gander at your music for adverts please?

Thank you and oh yes, I'm in the UK - Glasgow. What about yourself?


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## alexballmusic (Jan 18, 2017)

DervishCapkiner said:


> Thank you very much for your detailed reply, I really appreciate the time you've taken to give me what I would regard as a realistic, professional and also thoughtful reply - thank you. I have started writing some music to put in a reel for advertising as my thoughts were games and films until recently, I may even have something in the pipeline in the next couple months ( fingers crossed) however , I just wanted to see what the consensus on 'cinematic covers' of pop songs would be as that seems like quite a popular thing on really big blockbuster advertisements ( Forzia computer game, John Lewis Christmas ad, new Transformers trailer etc etc in the last few months) However, I do realise each advert is very specific unto itself and now you have explained that criteria to me, I see it would be much more relevant to actually do a cover to an ad before i even asked. On top of that, it sounds as if it would also be much less hassle to actually just write a new piece in a 'cinematic style' , specific for the ad.
> 
> Thank you again Alex Ball! Do you have a link to your website so I may have a gander at your music for adverts please?
> 
> Thank you and oh yes, I'm in the UK - Glasgow. What about yourself?



Hiya,

No problem - saw the post and thought I'd add something for what it's worth.

Yes, in theory, anything can be relevant to some kind of ad out there. There's thousands being made every year after all. I'd actually suggest not doing what other people have done or what seems popular. Doing something completely different - something that stands out. Or being known for doing a specific thing or group of things.

Advertising is unfortunately a bit of a rough industry for music. It's pretty swamped with people wanting to get into it (even more now that the ability to produce music has become so accessible). Bands, labels and publishers are also aware that it's an accountable form of income. Streaming and general file sharing has made a big hole in their income, so now they push their artists and writers to license for ads. They have whole departments dedicated to it. At one stage, bands wouldn't go near ads because they were a bit naff. It's almost the other way now. So that makes it even more competitive.

Quite a few people go for the carpet bomb approach with music libraries and spread their bets and try and get in that way. Then find out what's sticking and getting used. A lot of libraries are accessible globally, so it opens the opportunities up more.

Glasgow - ah, a fellow Brit! Hard to know where people are on a forum and whether what you're saying actually makes sense! My time is split between London and Brighton, so a long way south from you guys.

Website - yes, I've got some stuff I've done myself here if it's interesting or useful in any way: http://www.alexballmusic.com/?page_id=445

Have you setup a site?

Anyway, I'll stop waffling now.

Cheers!

Alex


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