Reading Time: 4 minutes

Introduction

One of the best ways to understand how music in ads work is by watching and analyzing commercials. In this article, I’ll walk through three different commercial spots and analyze their use of music. Hopefully, by understanding the makeup of the music used, you’ll gain insights that will help you as you create your own music for ads.

Ad Spot 1: Hyundai – “Get In and Get Away”

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/5utR/hyundai-getaway-sales-event-get-in-and-get-away-vail-song-by-brittany-pfantz-t2

1. Song – Shine Like Stars – Brittany Pfantz
2. Song Title Choice:
   • Shine Like Stars is a title that works well in ads as it establishes a positive upbeat mood and it also can apply to lots of different brands (not just cars).
   • Notice that the chorus is simple – just repeating the main phrase. If it were more wordy, it might compete too much with the narration. If you do happen to have a wordy chorus, give the video editor options by following it with a simpler post-chorus.
   • It’s interesting that the song is called Shine Like Stars but the ad is a winter day time scene. Maybe that’s a reminder not to take the lyrics and songs too literally cause you don’t know where they might be used.
3. Genre and Tempo:
   • I’d consider this a funk inspired pop song. And from being in sync for a while, I must say, this is the season of funk – funk-inspired pop and funk-inspired soul seems to be having a go. Note the brass-inspired elements. I’m hearing these in a lot of spots – supervisors seem to love brass.
   • One note about the brass elements – this is a current trend and trends change. They’re good to take note of. And, if you’re fast enough, you get an edge by incorporating the trends in your music. Just know that, maybe by next year, they might not be asking for funk inspired brass arrangements.
4. Production and Lyrical Notes:
   • The chorus was the only part used in this song but I found the full song on Spotify and gave it a listen. It’s important to analyze the whole song if you can find it because, even though they only used the chorus, it’s the full song that was pitched to the agency.
   • A few things to note:
     • Short introduction – verse starts at 0:07
     • The horns are the feature throughout the whole song
     • The beat is pretty dynamic – it keeps evolving and doesn’t get boring.
     • The lyrics are pretty universal – the imagery stays generic and the focus is more on the emotion of the moment.
     • Again the chorus is very open. Just one line repeated with a lot of space for the brass arrangement. Brittany gets a lot of sync placements so I’m betting that was a conscious decision on her part.

Ad Spot 2: Hyundai – “Get In and Get Away: Breckenridge”

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/5u6E/hyundai-getaway-sales-event-get-in-and-get-away-breckenridge-t2

1. Song: Let’s Get It – Artist – Unknown
2. Song Title Choice:
   • ‘Let’s Get It’ is a popular song theme in sync.
   • Notice, just like the previous example, this ad features just the hook which is just the one phrase with a lot of space (don’t assume this is a guaranteed winning formula – you should analyze dozens of ads before making generalizations).
3. Genre and Tempo:
   • This is a feel good uptempo pop vibe. Instead of brass, this features a lot of vocalese (background vocals) around a simple repeated single-line chorus.
4. Production and Lyrical Notes:
   • I wasn’t able to find the full song or the artist. Sometimes Shazamming the song works (which i tried) but sometimes, the song may have been created just for the ad or maybe was never released). So, the only thing to analyze here is the title, chorus structure and the production elements used. (That’s still a lot to learn from).

Ad Spot 3: Honda – “Keep Dreaming”

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/56km/honda-keep-dreaming-t1

1. Song: Edge of the Edge by Panda Bear & Sonic Boom
2. Song Title Choice:
   • I think the song choice is very interesting because while there are no lyrics included in the ad, the title, Edge of the Edge, goes along perfectly with the outer space theme of the commercial.
3. Genre and Tempo:
   • This mid-tempo song, created in 2022, gives off a Brian Wilson 60s pop vibe.
4. Song Theme and Lyrical Content:
   • The ad includes none of the song lyrics. What it does include is the instrumentation AND the vocalese. I see this a lot in ad placements. Vocalese seems to work a lot because it’s gives a real human feel without conflicting with the on-screen dialog. This could be a good test for your song. If you took off the main vocals and just left the BGVs and the track, do you still end up with something interesting.
   • Also, note that the track has a pretty strong build to it. It’s almost synth-cinematic. I think if you removed the vocalese, the track would still shine on its own. My personal takeaway for artists is to make sure you’re working with producers who know how to create dynamic tracks that build and stay interesting.

Conclusion:

• These are just three ads but I think there are quite a few takeaways for artists, songwriters and producers
  • Use song themes that will complement an ad campaign (Shine Like Stars, Let’s Get It, To The Edge).
  • Consider choruses or post-choruses that just feature the title phrase with a lot of open space (which can be filled in with musical arrangement or vocalese).
  • Make sure the production is dynamic and builds
  • Take note of trends in ads (funk-inspired, retro throw back vibes from the 60’s, 70’s and 90s, brass arrangements and vocalese).
• Remember these are just 3 ads. I think you need to analyze dozens of ads before making generalizations (while also remembering that trends change over time).

Did you find this helpful? Would you like me to do more breakdowns in the future? If so, reply or comment and let me know.

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