As some of you seem to have noticed - or may notice in the coming days - well, we’ve sold out. A few weeks ago, we were contacted by the advertising agency that represents Clearblue, who wanted to use our song Boats (Swept Away) in their latest tv ad campaign.
We took some time to think about what this meant for us. There are people we respect who are firmly against bands dealing with large corporations. We had to consider the possibility that, while this gets the music out to a wider audience, it might be considered to be betraying the song just a little. Or worse still, betraying people who care about the song as much as we do.
We realise that we’re not the Dandy Warhols, and this is nowhere near as ubiquitous as those Vodafone ads were, but discovering songs through TV ads can colour your perceptions of them. That said, we are operating as a completely independent band - there’s no label with deep pockets paying us tour support, in this fragmented modern music industry we have to forge a path where we can.
We’ve been blown away by the constant stream of support - financial as much as moral - from you guys this past year. We’re saving every penny we can right now to make a better album, one that we can be proud of. Making money from the ad will ultimately help us make more music, make better music, and will keep the tiles on the studio roof during those strong Spring gales that have been whipping about the countryside lately!
Plus, the ad is for a fertility monitor - it’s a pro-baby product and while we don’t know a whole lot of babies personally, they seem like good people so we’re very happy to support them where we can.
Honestly, we’re curious about what you guys think. We don’t actually have a tv set, so we’re probably going to be the last people to even notice the ad. Is this selling out? Does selling out mean anything anymore? The most important thing about making music is the connection that people, you guys, make with it. Will hearing Boats on a tv ad make you smile or make you sad? We’d genuinely like to know.
- Kathryn, Daniel & Benji
