Back in the day, you almost never heard well-known songs in TV commercials. But then in the 80s, things began to change.
The turning point was a Nike commercial in March 1987 that used the original version of the Beatles’ Revolution. People were aghast, but after that campaign, there was no going back. A new industry was created of companies whose sole purpose was to negotiate through the legalities of using a well-known song in a commercial campaign.
Today, using a song to sell your product or service is pretty much the norm. In the age of cratering music sales, licensing songs has become an extremely important alternate source of revenue.
1987 Nike Air ‘Revolution’ TV Advert from The Daily Street on Vimeo.
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