148 !!Chapter 7
cess with the song ‘‘Days Go By,’’ which was heard on a campaign for
the Mitsubishi Eclipse automobile. The agency spent $30 million in media
buying, consequently providing great exposure for the song. The song jet-
ted to the top of the dance charts inBillboardmagazine and progressed to
mainstream radio, selling over 1 million units.
This affirms the power of advertising. Most likely, without the com-
mercial, the song would never have received the amount of airplay it
received on commercial radio because it did not fit the style of music
played on pop radio in the United States at that time. When listeners
request to hear a song, as in this case, radio stations play it to accommo-
date their listeners. (Radio stations are interested in gaining audience
share. The larger their audience, the more they can charge for advertising.)
Listeners call radio stations to request songs or to ask the titles of songs
recently played. Most radio stations do not announce the titles of the songs
because they want listeners to call in and ask for the information; this
helps them determine which songs are popular with their listeners.
‘‘How were the phones?’’ is the industry expression that means that
the station wants to determine how many phone calls were received
immediately after a record was played. Sometimes, if there are minimal
phone calls, programmers will delete a record from their playlist; when
there are numerous calls (‘‘heavy phones’’), they will consider adding a
song to their regular playlist, which results in increased airplay. This
depends on a song’s continuous popularity, which is measured by sales.
If sales do not result from continuous airplay yet the listeners keep
requesting a song, the song is considered aturntable hit. A turntable hit
does not produce monetary benefit to a record label but does bring consid-
erable subliminal audience recognition to a commercial and generate per-
formance royalties.
Between obtaining a synchronization license from a music publisher
and obtaining the rights to use the original sound recording, clients are
willing to pay fees to obtain the synchronization rights to a popular song.
The terms of rights agreements vary. To illustrate, the use of a song might
be limited to a category, such as soft drinks. The same song could simulta-
neously be used in a car commercial because it is in a noncompetitive
product category. The licensing fee to exclusively license a song (instru-
mental) is substantially higher.
The rights might stipulate a one-year term with a specified number of
uses during that term. The agreement usually contains built-in options
with additional fee schedules.
Rights agreements are complex and therefore should be negotiated by
an expert. Most large agencies have in-house attorneys who negotiate
deals with music publishers, record companies, and individual rights
holders. Private clearance companies clear (receive permission) and
research song licenses. (They are compensated with a percentage of the
synchronization fee.) Agreements are not standard and are therefore
always negotiated.