You can do this and people will still buy your music?

[Diemen]

For some reason this really pisses me off, I'm not even sure if it should or not, but...

Has anyone seen the "Me Against The Music" Britney Spears/Madonna video? Ok, ok, has anyone at least seen the beginning of it before switching away to avoid projectile vomiting?

I swear to God that when I first saw it I thought it was a car commercial. For those who haven't seen the beginning, here's a short synopsis (from what I ca remember):

No music yet, just a shot of an alley, and then a new shiny Mazda RX-8 drives up and parks in a stylish way. It's obviously very clear that it's a Mazda RX-8, in a "woah, check out the cool looking car!" car commercial sort of way. then britney spears steps out and you realize it's a music video

On the Sellout Scale of 1 to 10, this is a 57. It's one thing to be part of a commercial selling something, but to include a commercial IN YOUR OWN MUSIC VIDEO? Shouldn't there at least be some tiny little line between your "art" and pocketbook? Some little voice inside your head that says "I'm in this because I love music" rather than "I'm in this because it's a cash cow" or something?

What the HELL is wrong with the music industry these days that this is allowed and encouraged to happen!?!? And worse yet, the average joe music listener doesn't seem to care?!?!?!

I know, I know, I really shouldn't be surprised considering this is Britney I'm-in-this-for-the-money Spears, but what's next - breakdowns in songs that go "and here's a shoutout to my girls at Tampax" or "let's break it down, Diet Vanilla Pepsi!"





This madness must END.




-----
I feel better now

 

[Pinball Wizard]

She's got spunk!

 

[Angela Harlem]

For the money she earns...I'd prolly do it too

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

money talks.

that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view.

you can be artistically free
or can make a lot of money

it's your choice

although sometimes you can do both

 

[~LadyLemon~]

I'd like to give a shoutout to my girls at Tampax...without your lovely product, life would really, really suck.

 

[adamswildhoney]

I know, I know, I really shouldn't be surprised considering this is Britney I'm-in-this-for-the-money Spears, but what's next - breakdowns in songs that go "and here's a shoutout to my girls at Tampax" or "let's break it down, Diet Vanilla Pepsi!"

Diemen, I completely agree with you and I wouldnt be suprised if that does indeed happen someday


*is waiting for music to go back to an art form rather than a product that you can make loads of money off of!!

 

[typhoon]

She's got spunk!

I wouldn't mind giving her some more.

Anyway, a musician with no artistic credibility to begin with can't sell out, so I don't see why this is surprising.

And music is still an art form if you're looking in the right places. MTV and the Gap are not the right places.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I'd like to give a shoutout to my girls at Tampax...without your lovely product, life would really, really suck.

Just waiting for the day when I hear Christina Aguleria do this.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

And music is still an art form if you're looking in the right places. MTV and the Gap are not the right places.

Badly Drawn Boy did a Gap ad, so I hear.

Hypothetically speaking (considering I'm not sure whether it's true or not) if Badly Drawn Boy were to do a Gap ad it wouldn't invalidate his music at all.

Or to use an example that I do know, I don't think the fact that the Clash were selling jeans for the USA in the 1990s took anything away from their music.

 

[typhoon]

Oh, you know what I fucking mean.

 

[Popmartijn]

As Neil Young once said: This Note's For You.

Great video too BTW.

 

[hiphop]

Bowie?s gonna do a deal with for Hilfiger next year. Everyone downloads songs for free, so artists could get more dependent on sync fees/ product placement.

 

[Bonochick]

Badly Drawn Boy did a Gap ad, so I hear.

So did Ryan Adams...with Willie Nelson.

Ryan said that for $30,000, most would have done it...but, in retrospect, he received so much backlash for it that he said he would have been better off having a yard sale.

 

[beegee]

so a car in a video makes it a commercial?

For the money she earns...I'd prolly do it too

amen, sister.

 

[Diemen]

See, my main beef isn't that Britney does ad campaigns and such, it's that now there is no line between what she does for ads and her music. Before there were no cheesy shots of her drinking Pepsi in her videos, no nascar endorsements in the middle of I'm a Slave 4 U or whatever - all that was in tv commercials that were very clearly a separate entity from her albums and music videos. Now she's basically slapped a Mazda commercial onto her video, and the (very thin and faded) line between the music and the ads has pretty much disintegrated.

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

In movies and commerical advertising, it's called product placement.

 

[BVS]

Sting did it with Jaguar first.

 

[Chizip]

bubble gum pop musicians are in the business of selling out

they need to make their money before they become irrelevant again

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I saw this video this morning. What I found even more offensive than any product-hawking was Madonna's use of yoga postures as suggestive dance moves.

 

[meegannie]

the (very thin and faded) line between the music and the ads has pretty much disintegrated.

I kind of like that. It's been happening forever, so I think it's better to make it glaringly obvious than to try to pretend you aren't doing it. Almost anytime music videos feature the band/artist, they become an ad for whatever the musicians/singers are wearing, driving, etc. I think it's just more interesting when it's intentional.

 

[JOFO]

why, does britney spears all of a sudden have artistic integrity and should not sell out?

her entire "career" has been one big commercial.

 

[thurco]

It seems to be a bigger thing in mainstream hip hop... They name-check brands all the time, they're driving Bentleys and they tell you flat out. They're wearing Cartier and they rap about it. Entire songs are devoted to what they buy, eat, drink, wear, and how much of it. Not all hip hop is bad, but you won't find the good stuff on MTV. I'm actually surprised Britney hasn't gone further with product placement.

Britney sings...
"Kickin' 'round in my Gap slacks
Safe and sound, thank you Tampax
I like shopping sprees and my Benz
Chillin' an' drinkin' Pepsi with my friends
Show me the benjamins and I'll show you some skin
Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vogue
Is Playboy next? I'll let you know"

 

[foray]

I saw it once. Had no idea the commercial and music vid were the same thing.

f

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I saw this video this morning. What I found even more offensive than any product-hawking was Madonna's use of yoga postures as suggestive dance moves.

it's because she's super horny.

as for the new video and all the selling out, i don't think it matters to her. artists with longevity seem to worry about being portrayed as a sell out, but when you're in the biz for about five years before you'll be considered washed up anyway, why not milk every drop out of the cash cow? i'm not condoning it or anything, but that's probably how she's looking at it. or is she too considering herself a serious artist, even though she's made nothing out of the pop genre, nor will she sing without her helium tank waiting offstage on the off chance she'd sing and not sound four?