moral quandary
so, i have been asked by fuel tv if they can license "i like giants" for an animated promo played on their station. it would be like 20 seconds of animation with the song in the background, that ends with the station logo. fuel tv is a network for "action sports" like skateboarding, wakeboarding, surfing, snowboarding, bmx. and i like the fact that the kids that do these things are getting backed by a network but i don't like the fact that the network is commercializing this stuff because well- football and baseball just aren't as "cool" these days. and the networks research what certain demographics want and appeal to them. but the promo won't be SELLING the network, just playing for people who are already watching. so is it actually backing a product? is a promo the same as a commercial? i said once that i would only put my songs in commercials for hugs and breastmilk. but i am not sure if this is a commercial. i don't feel like it is. BUT fuel tv is owned by fox network. so would i be attaching myself to them? fox news is one of the evilest of evils. but the simpsons and malcolm in the middle are on fox and i would attach myself to those projects in a heartbeat. i have had a song on a skate video and love the skater kids that have found my music that way. if a bunch of little bmxers find me and my world because of the promo i would be psyched. but corporate media- fuck. i hate teevee but i am addicted to it. and i hate money but i want to keep living the way i live- playing house shows and managing and booking my own shit, but that is going to be a little harder with a panda. because now i think about things like health insurance and having savings. stuff that was never so important to me.

in my mind i am justifying it by saying that someone is going to get that money from fox so it may as well be me. and then maybe the kids will find my other music and the music of my friends and learn what we think about "the system". but will i be a hypocrite? would that make me less repectable?

i am stuck in the mud on this one.

it sounds really cool in one way but in another way....

(Post a new comment)

unicide 2006-09-20 05:58 pm UTC (link)

I have discovered musicians and artists in all kinds of different ways. Whether it was being given a mix tape, seeing a commercial, a movie, a tv show, etc. These are people who have affected my life in SO MANY different ways. In many cases, if they hadn't ever done the movie, or commercial, or whatever... I never would have heard about them, and I can't imagine who I would be now. I am sure many of us have had the same experiences. I say go for it! (Reply to this)

	signifier 2006-09-20 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	One possible approach if you feel bad about it: ask for a whole bunch of money, and give a chunk of it to a cause that makes you feel good. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - margann, 2006-09-20 06:18 pm UTC

(no subject) - arrngingmatches, 2006-09-20 08:03 pm UTC

shmeen 2006-09-20 05:59 pm UTC (link)

I think that's a tough one for artists because corporations tend to love to co-opt the underground/radical music made by different communities. I think it's a big trend now to appeal to the "sub-culture" (whatever that means) and normalize it. It's a hard one cause it's your art but the fact of the matter is is that a company that cares about profit will be using it as a promo. And I personally don't see much difference between a promo for a station or a promo for a product. Personally, when I turn on the tv and hear MIA selling Hondas or Le Tigre selling cell phones, I kinda understand, but it bums me out a bit. I wish we lived in a society where we could pay our artists well where they didn't need to sell their music to corporations who then attach the music to consumerism (well, I live in Canada where there are more grants, but you know...same thing here). I say that they better pay you a lot for the song and also give you free tickets to sport games or sporting equipment or something. But yeah, it's totally understandable and until we smash capitalism, you should do what you need to do to get that health insurance secure. you know? Later, Sharmeen (Reply to this)

	ode_tothegenius 2006-09-20 06:00 pm UTC (link)
	pandas are the priority. you'll probably get shit from your some of your fans if you license your music... but panda comes first! (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - kittybittercat, 2006-09-20 09:27 pm UTC

	danfishback 2006-09-20 06:10 pm UTC (link)
	'in my mind i am justifying it by saying that someone is going to get that money from fox so it may as well be me. and then maybe the kids will find my other music and the music of my friends and learn what we think about "the system".' when i started reading, i was thinking just that, and then you wrote it yrself! xoxo dan (Reply to this)

hoshwa 2006-09-20 06:16 pm UTC (link)

this is hard. i work at a college radio station and mtvU, which broadcasts only on college dorms, asked us if we wanted to be on their website and have a little clip shown on the tv. and we are a college station, so it seems like it would make sense. but then again it's mtv. so, they ask us for a top 10 list of songs being played. so we decided that if we do it, we'd spell MTVFUCKYOU with the first letter of the band names. hahahaha. so if there was a way for you to mock fox without them knowing it then that would be perfect. but probably not. i would say do it anyway, though. for family. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - geeveecatullus, 2006-09-20 06:17 pm UTC

jimyojimbo 2006-09-20 06:16 pm UTC (link)

I agree with everyone so far. I mean, one of my favourite bands at the time, Mogwai, had one of their songs on a Levis commercial in the US, I think. I nor no-one I knew thought they were "un-cool" or what have you for doing that. In fact, I think they explained it themselves at the time: "We get some money so we can carry on doing what we want." No-one is actually compromising what they do. So yeah. And maybe more people will get on board because of it. Go go go! (Reply to this)

	geeveecatullus 2006-09-20 06:16 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think it would make you a hypocrite or less respectable at all. I'd say: "go for it." :) &heart; (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - deathcabforcody, 2006-09-20 06:26 pm UTC

mandapop 2006-09-20 06:20 pm UTC (link)

Wow that's kinda weird cuz in my second-to-most-recent post, I posted the lyrics to that song! Maybe I manifested this with my MIND!! =O Anyhow, I say do it. They won't make you look bad. And they won't make it look like you're all about football. Your fans aren't gonna think you're selling out. They know you just had a lil' baby. And it's not like you're doing a Funyuns commercial or something! They're just using your great music (WITH ANIMATION, HELLO!) and their logo at the end. I bet it will turn out really awesome! (Reply to this)

	woejilliams 2006-09-20 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	Go for it Kimya, you have to reach as many people as possible. Don't look at FOX as a singular being. Think of it it more as a family that maybe has an asshole Dad and a couple of the kids are jerks too. There are still great people in the family. Would you stop being friends with a kid cause their Dad was a jerk? (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - trigger_of_rock, 2006-09-21 04:17 am UTC

	belindausa 2006-09-20 06:27 pm UTC (link)
	go for it kimya! (Reply to this)

godmoney_girl 2006-09-20 06:29 pm UTC (link)

all teevee stations are owned by fox, fox is "the man," and life is a series of small concessions (and rebellions) to the man. in my opinion, a lot of your fans will recognize your music and do a little happy dance in their living rooms (and maybe think of you every time they take off on their skateboards) and you will definitely attract a slew of new fans. go for it. purists will inescapably criticize you but shake 'em haters off. (Reply to this)

on_a_hill 2006-09-20 06:32 pm UTC (link)

as a music fan, I will say it that I absolutely LOVE IT when little known artists I love do this, because it's validating that I like cool shit (!) and it means that people who normally wouldn't be exposed to that talent WILL be, and that's cool. as a human, the fox afficiation bugs me. but as I was reading it, I totally thought of all the things you said about living your life as a mama now. if it were *me*, I'd probably do it. cause in the end, my child is more important than any of that stuff, and it would be beneficial to her. maybe that makes me a bad person, though. *hrm* (Reply to this)

	warlibeth 2006-09-20 06:35 pm UTC (link)
	do it Kimya! the most import is how you spend your money not where it came from, I know people who signed on EMI but gave after million to revolutionary organisations, it's one honorable way to try to make the world turn different (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - warlibeth, 2006-09-20 07:20 pm UTC

	gorey_girl 2006-09-20 06:36 pm UTC (link)
	just dont make a victoria's secret commercial in 30 years and i think you'll be alright (Reply to this)

	why not? (Anonymous) 2006-09-20 06:42 pm UTC (link)
	i also liked that football comercial. and as long as they don`t tell you what to do, i mean how to sing and how to write, as long as you don`t depend on them, it`s ok. i think it`s good to spread art. it`s good to spread music and it`s good to spread love. -hedi (Reply to this)

	la_wilk 2006-09-20 06:44 pm UTC (link)
	Don't look at it too closely. Look at it as 'Mother puts Panda through college by writing amazing songs that touch people's hearts'. If you still feel bad about it, I'll give up one of my vices to counterbalance it. If you want, I'll give up eating at McDonalds. Then we can watch as the golden arches crumble without my £2.99 a year. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - bananarchist_, 2006-09-20 07:11 pm UTC

(no subject) - verybestfriend, 2006-09-21 05:38 pm UTC

(no subject) - kimya_dawson_, 2006-09-21 05:42 pm UTC

	lunap 2006-09-20 06:45 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah. Baby love needs her baby ballah dollahs. (Reply to this)

bananarchist_ 2006-09-20 07:01 pm UTC (link)

I used to be under the spell of what I call "punk rock ethics," where if a band or artist became mainstream or sold out larger venues, I became disenchanted with them. I think rock music, especially punk/emo/indie music, is the only genre where the fans get angry about their favorite artists making money doing what they love to do. That was when I was a teenager, living with my family and goofing off after school. Now, I work a full-time day job doing something completely the opposite to what I want to do, all to pay for what I want to do, which is run my own music magazine. Now, I would LOVE to make money doing what I love to do, and seeing as I'm not a teenager anymore, I live on my own, support myself, and all that, as long as the company that wanted to buy an ad at racketmag.com (the aforementioned magazine) didn't sacrifice animals or kill hobos for fun, I'd probably sell them an ad. With a child comes responsibility for their financial state until they're old enough to be on their own. If you can do that without the commercial, go for it, if licensing a song will pay for a back to school shopping spree, that's even better. (Reply to this)

	audrawilliams 2006-09-20 07:13 pm UTC (link)
	I feel like do it if you need the money, but also know that Fox wouldn't be asking you if they didn't feel they had something to benefit from it. So it's a matter of deciding how you feel about your work benefiting Fox. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - trbulnt_spnstr, 2006-09-21 11:23 am UTC

(no subject) - audrawilliams, 2006-09-21 04:14 pm UTC

	samurai_jenn 2006-09-20 07:21 pm UTC (link)
	I think it would be cool to go for it because others would be hearing your music. And in terms of you benefiting Fox, think of it this way: If you have cable, you already are. So screw it, take some money from them and have your music recognized on top of that! (Reply to this)

	whitestripescd 2006-09-20 07:23 pm UTC (link)
	i love kimya and i have faith you'll make the decision that's right for you. if you decide to do it to help panda alone, that's reason enough, but if you feel like protecting what you stand for... that's just as magnificent! (Reply to this)

	shiny_objects 2006-09-20 07:45 pm UTC (link)
	MySpace is owned by Fox, but you use your Myspace page to share your music and your message with the world. This commercial is just a kind of larger-scale version of that. I say go for it, and if the money makes it a little easier for you to do what you do, right fucking on. (Reply to this)

	oh_anna_awesome 2006-09-20 07:51 pm UTC (link)
	I think you should. Exposing kids to music that is not so mainstream when they might not of experienced it through any other venue is not bad. And getting paid for it is a pretty cool thing. I would do it. And X-treme sports are not a bad thing, so go for it sexy mama. (Reply to this)

nausicaa1 2006-09-20 08:05 pm UTC (link)

I say go for it, too. The only people I've ever heard call others "sell Outs" are people with a suspicious lack of dependents, house payments, health insurance, etc. Whenever I hear a song on tv by a favorite artist, I think "Well, I'm glad so-and-so was able to make the mortgage payment this month. It would suck if he/she had to stop making music and get a crappy 9-5 job instead of making music I like." (Reply to this)

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