Such a great paycheck.

July 8, 2005 5:37 AM

I was crushed to hear the Iron & Wine version of Such Great Heights played over an M&Ms commercial last night. Who's getting paid, and how much?

The original is by The Postal Service. I didn't even know the I&W version existed until last week, when I found out it was included on the Garden State soundtrack. I'm curious who is getting paid for these two commercial uses. The Postal Service for writing the song? Iron & Wine for performing it? Do they get paid each time the ad airs? Who gets paid more?

An even deeper question: I was playing The Postal Service version for a friend, and she said it sounded familiar, but could not place it. Then she recognized the I&W version. After some research we found that the Garden State trailer used the original version, but the I&W version in the movie. Why? Was it just aesthetics?

posted by OmieWise to media & arts (16 comments total)

Three fees here:

Synchronization master use - I&W's record label recieves the money because it is their "master" recording that is being used, and then pays out to the band depending on the artist agreement. Rarely do artists own their own masters (Ray Charles is one of the first, and only to do so)

Synchronization composition use - The song writer's (Gibbard/Tamborello) music publisher recives the fee, then pays out to the songwriters based on their agreement (usually 50% of the monies received).

Fees range from $10,000-$1,000,000 depending on usage, amount of airings, and thousands of other factors. Who gets paid more is often a direct result of which party is the better negotiatir. There are generally industry standards for major labels/publishers, but independant labels ofted have a larger range of negotiation. It's usually negotiated between the publisher- ad-agency/3rd party clearance house and label-ad-agency/3rd party clearance house

Performance right - BMI (Gibbard/Tamborello's PRO) will pay the music publisher a fee depending on how many times the song is broadcast. This is usually done through a combination of sampling TV stations all over the US and music cue sheets provided by production houses or networks. This fee is either paid annually or quarterly. Each TV station/network pays a yearly fee to all 3 PRO's (SESAC,BMI, ASCAP), to cover these payouts. Check www.bmi.com for more info.
posted by remlapm at 6:47 AM on July 8, 2005

I believe Subpop's probably making all the money at least up front, and which artist (they've both released on Subpop) gets part of that money is their call. I&W might be said to be undergoing an identity crisis here, between this and the electric (gasp!) guitars on his last release.

Also, the I&W song was actually recorded for the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" EP, before it was included on the Garden State soundtrack. I only mention it because if you haven't heard that EP, you've also likely missed the other cover on it, that of "We Will Become Sillhouettes" as played by the Shins. Also quite nice.

Anyway, my own reading of the situation is that Subpop, who issued the original recording featuring the cover in the first place, probably jumped at the chance to get I&W out in the public eye while making money at it (usually the opposite of how promotion works). So they're probably ultimately responsible, and just as likely probably making the most money of anyone concerned.
posted by electric_counterpoint at 6:48 AM on July 8, 2005

Remember that record sales are <5% of a band's income, before you're crushed that they get another income stream.

Seriously -- film and commercial placement is a major alternative source of revenue today, and given the wasteland that is radio, it's almost more likely that indie artists will be found there. Moby licensed every track on Play for ads, it's said, before the album was even released; Aimee Mann's career was probably saved by Paul Thomas Anderson writing Magnolia around her songs, which spurred sales of her self-published Bachelor No. 2 album.

After some research we found that the Garden State trailer used the original version, but the I&W version in the movie. Why? Was it just aesthetics?

Trailers are finished long before post-production on a film is complete, put together by an entirely different production team, and generally use off-the-shelf music such as the theme from last year's summer blockbuster by the same studio. It's even possible that the choice of SGH for the trailer influenced its being selected for the movie. I would imagine that esthetics dictated the choice of the I&W version -- perhaps for a quieter approach, or perhaps just because the original was already becoming too well known to have the same impact.
posted by dhartung at 9:56 AM on July 8, 2005

There's no need to be crushed. Independent artists have to eat, too. Allowing their work to be in commercials like this (I haven't actually seen that commercial) permits them to make the music you love.

I have friends who are in a band called Danko Jones. One of their songs was picked up by The Toronto Maple Leafs and played when goals were scored (Soul on Ice was the song). I got angry emails from fans (I run their web site) complaining about selling out. It's horseshit. The band members were working in coffee shops and porn stores at the time. Deals like that allow them to quit their jobs and dedicate themselves to music, which is good for them and you.

Now, multi-millionaires like Dylan and the Who who sell their songs to commercials, that you might have a better argument against...
posted by dobbs at 10:00 AM on July 8, 2005

ooh, dobbs: You know Danko Jones? Please tell them, on my behalf, that they fucking rock.
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:17 AM on July 8, 2005

BTW, The Postal Service version was recently used in the promo ads for the "Grey's Anatomy" show on ABC.
posted by smackfu at 10:27 AM on July 8, 2005

Just to clarify: I'm not crushed that these guys are making money, quite the contrary. I'm just a little sad to hear this private joy shared with all the world. My questions were because I was curious and I hoped that they were getting well-payed.

Although, and I just remembered this, I know that Yo La Tengo had Coke approach them about using a song in a commercial and they refused, but agreed to write new music for them to use. It was insturmental, though, so maybe a bit different.
posted by OmieWise at 10:28 AM on July 8, 2005

After some research we found that the Garden State trailer used the original version, but the I&W version in the movie. Why? Was it just aesthetics?

I thought I remembered Zach Braff answering that question on his blog, but after looking it up, I see that he really didn't. But here's what he said anyway: "Now a couple of answers to top questions in your comments: Such Great Heights: In the trailer we used "The Postal Service", but in the movie I used "Iron and Wine's" cover of the song. That is what'll be on the soundtrack."
posted by llamateur at 10:43 AM on July 8, 2005

I'm just a little sad to hear this private joy shared with all the world.

How amazingly arrogant. The rest of the world doesn't deserve to hear good music?
posted by xmutex at 10:57 AM on July 8, 2005

I don't think the commercial did justice to the song, but then again, I don't think the song did justice to Iron & Wine.

If you think that ones good, you simply must hear the original version of Jezebel
posted by cyphill at 11:21 AM on July 8, 2005

remlapm writes "Rarely do artists own their own masters"

It's my understanding that it's not particularly uncommon for artists on indie labels to retain ownership of their masters. I would guess that it's less likely with subpop than with smaller labels, though.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:32 AM on July 8, 2005

Basically you should just buy every Iron and Wine CD and EP.
posted by matildaben at 11:33 AM on July 8, 2005

Hmm, I guess I was crushed much earlier when nothing on The Postal Service CD lived up to "The Dream of Evan and Chan".
posted by Hubajube at 11:54 AM on July 8, 2005

I was crushed by how bad the Iron and Wine version sucked.
posted by norm at 12:00 PM on July 8, 2005

xmutex writes "How amazingly arrogant. The rest of the world doesn't deserve to hear good music?"

Give me a break.
posted by OmieWise at 12:23 PM on July 8, 2005

Xmutex, you ever get jealous that two of your friends met and ended up liking each other more than you? It's kind of like that. But yeah, it can come across as arrogant sometimes. Took me a while to get over Ben Folds becoming a Big Deal.
posted by NickDouglas at 12:53 PM on July 9, 2005