Oddly enough, I didn’t hear much of a fuss when Feist became the latest artist featured on an Apple iPod commercial. I had some reservations about her music being so blatantly promoted alongside the ubiquitous portable music player, but since I didn’t read much resentment on any indie music blogs, I guess no one minded either.
That’s all changed with MadTV’s recent spoof of Feist’s “1234” video (found here). I personally don’t think it’s funny or clever. But some people do, while others don’t.
There are two things that should be noted other than the spoof being unfunny. One, the song is a pretty good one. Two, the song is the most commercial song that Feist has ever made. So it’s a terrible song to judge the rest of music on because most of her music is nothing like it.
The former is a continued proclamation of me thinking Feist as a great artist who makes great music. The latter is more of a gripe because I never would’ve thought that I would hear a Feist song on the radio, and now I hear it everywhere because it was featured on a freaking iPod commercial. It’s a lot like how I felt when Regina Spektor’s “Fidelity” was constantly played on the radio this past summer. It was also Regina’s most commercial song, and anyone who’s ever listened to her earlier music can attest that fans of “Fidelity” probably wouldn’t be as open to (i.e. like) her more experimental stuff.
I guess it all comes down to what came first, the chicken or the egg. And if you want to be even more cynical, does the question even matter if you like chickens and eggs?
Feist made great music long before her association with Apple (both when she was with Broken Social Scene, and with her solo works Monarch and Let It Die), She will continue to make great music long after Apple finds another artist for its ads, and long after “1234” stops getting regular airplay.
Article comments
1 - Artifact
Independent musicians have been shut out of mainstream exposure. Think about playlists, the Clear Channel. Frankly there are few alternatives at this point to gain exposure or financial compensation. Now consumers who are spoon-fed everything will at least hear great music without having to search for it via the Internet.
2 - t.
to be honest, feist has been getting airplay for the better part of the last three years... in Canada. Mushaboom, One Evening and Inside and Out were all popular songs here. the fact is, the mainstream is a little less controlled by the majors in canada than it is in the states. people are more likely to respond to a great song than to a song that sounds like every other rap/pop/hip hop song out at the moment. canadians respond to what they like, not what they see on every other billboard or magazine ad.
3 - Carl
Whatever you think of the marketing, this is a very genuine song. Read the info here.
4 - Tom Johnson
I don't think most people had a problem with the song until the ad came along and now people are sick of it simply due to overexposure. It was an okay song in the dosage I chose to expose myself to before, which was pretty low - on the album, when it came on, and I never once sought it out as it was one of my least favorites.
And, no, Canadians are not somehow gifted with an ability to hear better, "t." What you have up there is a market that does not have a gargantuan company that decides what listeners "want" to hear. Clear Channel owns a majority of radio stations and concert venues in my area and so pretty much makes the call on what people listen to on the radio. What they choose is what has already sold before because they know the simple formula - someone likes artist X and is surfing the dial and hears something by artist Y that sounds vaguely like artist X, and hopefully buys something by artist Y, etc. It didn't used to be this way until Clear Channel started buying everything up. There actually was a time not too long ago when all kinds of different stuff was played on the radio. Hard to believe, but true. Don't worry - this will all happen in Canada, too, someday in the not too distant future.
5 - The Obnoxious American
I actually think that it's great that corporations are starting to actually pick out music that is independent and hard to find and they give it nationwide exposure.
Some great songs have recently gotten this exposure, Fiest's 1 2 3 4, The Go Team's Huddle Formation, that 80's song (which I can't remember now)... So happy that we get at least some value out of all these adverts that plague our airways.
And ultimately, all musicians sell out. Look at the Rolling Stones, Kiss. Who cares, it shouldn't be about "cred" it should be about the music itself.
6 - Ray Ellis
Actually, I don't think of it as "selling out." The days of musicians not lending their names to this or that died when the Beatles broke up. Point of fact, the iPod commercials have actually introduced me to a few artists, Feist included.
We live in a culture where musicians have to get exposure anywhere they can get it. People are hungry, and commercial radio is not feeding that humor. Commercials and TV series are.
I gave up on commercial radio years ago. My "radio" is my personalized station on Yahoo Music Jukebox.
7 - Uncle Stinky
Problem is, when an Indie signs a contract with a major corporate concern (the latest from Feist is Apple's new super-slim notebook)the commercial plays endlessly, and what once seemed fresh and different becomes trite and tired, through sheer repetition. Unless you're 100% pop-culture, in which case you define yourself in terms of the latest tech innovation (somehow made more hip by the addition of Feist's unique voice) and the fact that you have one.
8 - Stardog
It's not the iPod commercial per se; it's the Moby-esque total of commercials on which her music has appeared. I'd pretty much accepted her as a sellout even before 1234. I wouldn't care if her whole (Broken Social) scene weren't so snooty about being indie, but it seems like the hugest hypocracy to me.
9 - Anonymous
Hasn't anyone noticed that about 2 out of every 5 commercials out there plays a Feist song? All that is out there for songs in commercials are 1980s stuff for Swiffer and Feist's songs.