Songs Used In Promotions Get A Ton Of Sales… So Why Does The Music Industry Try To Make It Harder?

Ethorad was the first of a few to write in pointing to an article over at the BBC, highlighting how old songs are finding new life and new sales after showing up in a commercial — or being used on TV during a popular event. In other words, getting your music more widely heard leads to more ways to make money. That, of course, should be obvious. And yet, why is it that so many in the industry are trying to make it so much harder to get music heard by putting up tollbooths at every stop? You have the RIAA/Soundexchange working overtime to put an additional tax on radio play and you have ASCAP/BMI trying to get fees for everything, from the 30 second previews online to ringtones. Of course, the more you put a toll on such things, the less the songs are used, the less they’re promoted and the less opportunity there is to increase sales. It’s really amazing sometimes that these big organizations don’t seem to comprehend the basic idea of a “promotion” and how that helps sales.

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