Songs that are just ad fab

Next month, Levi's will use a piece of classical music in its advertising for the first time. Handel 's Sarabande in D Minor will be the soundtrack for its new commercial - and, quite possibly, an unlikely Pepsi chart hit before the spring is out. After all, Levi's ad campaigns have proved a reliable means of turning old or obscure pieces of music into massive hits, so far achieving eight number ones, including hits for The Clash, Stiltskin and Babylon Zoo.

Handel might seem an odd choice for a brand aimed firmly at teenagers. But as advertisers are increasingly aware, the music is often what turns a sales message into an emotional bond with the consumer. As copywriter Gavin Lester, of ad agency BBH, told a trade magazine, by choosing Sarabande "we were trying to create an emotional feeling". In other words, the music itself is the message.

"Music is everything because increasingly the big problem in communications is that people have no time," says Mark Wnek, executive director of the agency Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper. His campaigns for Peugeot use music "to get into the driver's psyche ... It forms a short cut to a message, it is your tone of voice and forms an integral part of the brand."

His argument is born out by advertising psychologist Dr David Lewis. He says it is a powerful emotional cue that has a profound effect on how we interpret visual images. "It has an enormous impact on meaning. It causes sub-conscious changes in the brain activity, particularly if music is known, when it helps create a sense of familiarity and belonging."

If music can bestow instant familiarity and belonging in an over-advertised world, it is hardly surprising that the right soundtrack is gold dust for advertisers. "Previously, ads had jingles," says Paul Fenton, head of

TV production at J Walter Thompson. "Now nearly every ad has a soundtrack." Prices for music have risen accordingly. For the top artists, the ad rights can be in the millions. Microsoft paid the Rolling Stones $7 million (£5 million) in 1995 to use Start Me Up for the launch of Windows 95. It pulled a similar trick last year when it paid Madonna millions to use her Ray of Light album to launch Windows XP - in particular, the line "Faster than speeding light, she's flying". Even for everyday chart hits, prices have risen by nearly 20 per cent in the past couple of years.

"There's no rate card," explains Richard Kirstein, of Zomba Music Publishers. "The cost of music depends on many factors, including what it is being used for, the length of time you want rights for, how much of the music is being used, the number of territories, and how enthusiastic the copyright owners are."

Typically, a 12-month licence to use a chart hit - known as the "synchronisation rights" - could easily cost £50,000 for the publishing rights and a further £50,000 for the sound recording rights, simply for UK use. A European or US campaign would cost twice as much, and the price could rise seven or eight times to use a well-known song worldwide. Prices rise exponentially if a song is famous. Bon Jovi recently pocketed £500,000 for the use of the hit It's My Life in a European commercial for the Opel Corsa, and BT is said to have paid £1 million to use Elvis's You Are Always On My Mind.

Other songs, like the 1940s ballad Try A Little Tenderness, or Tina Turner's Simply The Best, may not command a huge use fee, but still make a fortune for their copyright owners because they are used in so many campaigns.

"It's an integral part of the marketing we now do for any new act," says Richard Kirstein. Which explains why synchronisation fees from advertising now account for as much as 10 per cent of some record companies' income. And, increasingly, commercials are the companies' chosen route for launching new bands. Where would Daft Punk be without Palm Pilot, Kinobe without Kronenbourg, the Dandy Warhols without Vodafone, Death In Vegas and Gene Delux without Levi's? That's a marketing push few musicians could ignore - even a German-born composer who died in 1759.