Like so many industries the music business has been dramatically transformed by the digital revolution the top-selling album of
1999 the Backstreet Boys millenium sold more than 30 million copies around the world
last year's number one the greatest showmen motion picture cast recording sold just
3.5 million while musicians are making far less from direct sales of their music
There are other ways for successful artists to make a living news our weekends Christopher Booker has the story
Even if you have not set foot in a record store in 20 years, you haven't barely heard the music of spoon in commercials
On television
In movies
Or maybe even during presidential candidate Pete Buddha judges debate warm-up
Few bands have navigated the profound digital disruption of the music industry quite as well as spoon
Their story is a testament to the new realities of what it means to be a successful band
Founded in 1993 by singer and songwriter Brit, Daniel and drummer Jim Eno
Spoon story almost stopped as it was starting
The band was famously dropped by Elektra Records in 1998
But rather than calling it quits they kept going recording on their own without a label once a week
I would call my manager and lawyer and say anybody want to put out that record and
They're like know what why don't you think about changing the band name or you know?
Starting a new band and so it really probably made more sense for us to start over but in hindsight
It didn't merge records an independent label based in Durham, North Carolina
Released girls can tell in 2001 it sold more copies than both their previous records combined
What followed has been a near 20-year run of commercial success and critical acclaimed
But spoons path was markedly different than that of those who have come before
1999 the year after the band was dropped was the high-water mark of the music industry of old
Adjusted for inflation. It made nearly 22 billion dollars in retail revenue last year. It was just under 10 billion
The story is familiar by now the advent of digital technology everything from Napster iTunes Spotify and Pandora
Changed the economic landscape of music. The word is out that there's not really a lot of money made on making records anymore
There's money made at the very very top, you know
But it's not it's certainly not the same thing as when we started
Radio has changed as well
Consolidation and the closure of college radio stations have decreased the number of avenues for independent artists like spoon to make it on the airwaves
So Daniel says the band had to think differently about how to forge a career. There was not that
Avenue for exposure and and we weren't getting paid a lot of money and so someone wanted to give us
$5,000 to put a song in a TV show that's seems like a good deal
While spoons licensing list is as lengthy as the end credits of a feature film
It's reflective of a broader shift in attitudes towards licensing music, but it's not as if spoon forged entirely new ground
This Rice Krispies jingle from the early 60s comes by way of a very young Rolling Stones
Still there was once a fierce debate about whether it was okay for a serious musician to license their music this way
Lou Reed was widely criticized for allowing walk on the wild side to be used in this mid-80s honda scooter campaign
Hey don't settle for walk
But a quick dive into YouTube reveals Reid was far from alone and many more have at one time or another
licensed their music for advertisements television and movies something that was famously criticized by Neil Young in his
1988 song this notes for you
His song released right around the time George Paul and Ringo were suing Nike over its use of the Beatle song revolution
Saying Paul McCartney explained his position in this 1989 interview. We never did do commercials with the Beatles
We had lots of big offers
From soft drinks companies, you know to do stuff obviously, but we always thought now it kind of spoils
It just takes that little edge off it
This feeling did not extend to McCartney's solo work
he teamed up with visa just a year later to promote his world tour and
Recently, he allowed his song great day to be used in an advertisement for a credit card. Enjoy
I have to face the truth
Daniel says despite the wide use of spoons material. It has not impacted the band's approach
Was there an initial conversation about where your music goes and what it's licensed to?
Oh, yeah, we we got to approve every one of them
You know, we don't write the songs for those
uses the album still means something that is a moment and you will never
Be able to write songs exactly like you did during that moment when that album was made when we first started it out
I was writing songs -
- that'll go over well in bars
You know and so when we started spoon that was sort of like that was the big goal
Get that weekend gig at a better place
Spoon spent the past summer on the road supporting the release of their greatest hits album everything hits at once
Proof enough that in the new music economy while money from licensing is nice. It's the gigs that pay the bills
What advice do you give fans that are 20 years younger?
Every now and then I will get an artist that says how did you do what you do? And I usually tell them
to do it for yourself to do it locally to make
To make and be in your own scene and then other things will come to you