Close-up: Live issue - Can adland save the music industry?(comparative analysis of music industry and advertising agencies)

A music track in an ad can help both band and agency, provided the price is right.

The relationship between advertising and the music industry has long been one characterised by an unusual level of symbiosis.

The judicious use of music has incredible power to lodge a brand in the public consciousness; likewise, the exposure a commercial creates can give a band the push it needs to break the charts.

Just ask Stiltskin, whose grungey anthem Inside was the soundtrack for Bartle Bogle Hegarty's 'creek' spot for Levi's. The track shot to number one on the back of the ad, and led to the hasty formation of a band-proper (it didn't even have vocals when the ad was made) for a Top of The Pops spot.

Today, the level of collaboration between band and brand is more complex than ever, to the point that record companies and music publishers are becoming reliant on advertising revenue. This is most commonly in the form of synchronisation rights paid by agencies for use of a track, which are a major revenue stream for a music business increasingly starved of cash.

The supply and demand nature of the market means that prices are continuously being forced down, though. Sometimes to the point of non-existence. Record companies are often asked to provide a track gratis, with the promise the ad campaign will make the song a chart hit.

'Ad agencies will always try to get the most out of their budgets, so they'll always try to drive the music down. It's vital songwriters and musicians realise there's a value to their music, and that their music is adding a value to a campaign,' the EMI Records music promotions manager, Melanie Johnson, says.