The Riff: Wilco Guys Own VWs and Like Them, Thank You Very Much

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Wilco Guys Own VWs and Like Them, Thank You Very Much

Chicago alt-rock elder statesmen Wilco have licensed tracks from their new album Sky Blue Sky to Volkswagen to accompany TV commercials featuring, for instance, the amusing antics of a tow truck driver who really likes the cute little VW GTI. Wilco apparently felt insecure enough about this decision to release a multi-paragraph statement defending themselves on their website. “We feel okay about VWs,” the statement reads, in what I assume Volkswagen considers the indie-rock equivalent of a ringing endorsement. But Wilco didn't come to this decision lightly:

This is a subject we've discussed internally many times over the years regarding movies, TV shows and even the odd advertisement. With the commercial radio airplay route getting more difficult for many bands (including Wilco); we see this as another way to get the music out there. As with most of the above (with the debatable exception of radio) the band gets paid for this.

Okay, I don’t mean to make fun of Wilco; they’re a very good band and I want them to make money so they can buy nice things and go out for sushi and stuff. I’m also not sure why this is news: good and bad music gets slapped onto commercials all the time, and anybody who thinks that a certain genre (jangly post-Americana?) is somehow “above” capitalist considerations is being a bit naive. However, Wilco's statement reveals a certain level of discomfort with the situation, and I think their instincts are right: the recent outcry over the (apparently unapproved) Dr. Marten’s print ads featuring dead celebs shows that there’s at least a gradient separating acceptable from unacceptable selling out, and fans know it when they see it. It’s been postulated that Moby’s post-Play disappearance was partially due to overexposure after licensing every one of the album’s 18 tracks, and does anybody else find “Lust For Life” accompanying footage of cruise ships a bit jarring? But back to car ads: “Days Go By” sure sounded great accompanying that nighttime drive with the weird dancing lady, and quirky, melancholy electronica is one of many types of music without a lot of options for American exposure these days. Wilco are right to investigate other avenues to get their music to the people.

Rather than issue a blanket judgement over certain types of music and certain types of commercials, I suppose the only thing to do is judge it all individually: Does the song survive editing down to 30 seconds? Is the product at least not egregiously awful? And do I want to see it again? In this instance, I’m going to say maybe, probably, and no way. Just thinking about getting my car towed makes me anxious and upset, and if VW owners are somehow exempt from “No Parking” signs, that doesn't make me chuckle, it makes me very, very angry at them. The song, “The Thanks I Get,” seems like it’s forcing itself to be wry and jovial, when it really wants to beat a guitar over somebody’s head. “Is this the thanks that I get / For loving you,” go the lyrics, as the tow truck driver admires the VW’s interior, obviously thinking to himself, “I have a horrible, depressing life as a tow truck driver, which has been slightly improved by sitting in this car I can’t even afford.” Approval from those less fortunate than us is something the privileged always enjoy, and the underlying message here seems to be that you can slum around in a "hip" transitional neighborhood safely, listening to your jangly post-Americana, and park in the red zone without a care in the world, since the grizzled locals know you’re “down.” Sorry, Wilco: for the song, a B-; for the commercial, a D+.

Comments

Wilco was apparently taking a *lot* of heat from their fans on the web over the decision to sell their music to VW, at least according to NPR. That is why they may have seen fit to post the information about their decision.

I don't think it was "pre-emptive" or based on their insecurity.

I don't think it was news, and they probably did not think so either, until they felt they needed to offer their fans an explanation. Anyone who has kids and a mortgage - and who needs health insurance - can understand the financial pressures that would make a decsion to license the music the right one for them.

Posted by: Michael on 06/08/07 at 12:04 PM Respond

To summarize the late, great Bill Hicks; "WHORES!".

Posted by: Christopher on 06/08/07 at 3:20 PM Respond

O.K.
Like the man says, facts matter. We must all have our facts strait before passing judgement here. Like myself, Jeff and his gang have been around the business for a while now. They have seen it change DRASTICALLY in the past 10 to 15 years. Was a time when records could only be made by getting the blessing of a record company and a studio. Now, for less than a thousand bucks, any musician can create a fine cd in his or her own bedroom. In other words, the workers have control of the means of production. However, with this wonderful upside that came with the digital revolution, there has also been an assault on artists means of making a living in a market economy. Let's face it, nearly everybody (except me) is now downloading "free" music from the internet. This stuff is only called "free" because, with very little effort, it can be had for almost no cost to the consumer. So the musicians that used to sell records to get by have a new dilemma to face. However, we might be forgetting that, even though music has become cheaper to make, it still has its costs. Equipment does still carry a price. A musician cannot spend the majority of his or her waking hours writing/composing, recording, and spreading this fine art work without, like all of us, aquiring the expenses of maintaining food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare. That's right all you Wilco fans that dug all that good ol' Woody Guthrie stuff. Music, too, has its labor costs, and the workers need to get what they need! Royalty money is one of the only remaining ways (besides that god-awful mess that is the corporate ticket sales for live shows industry) to make it.
Sure enough. I, as much as anybody, would be elated to see every shred of catitalism removed from this and all aspects of the economy of this earth. This situation is rotton. This system is rotton. [No finer display of the way poisons the public than in Abe Polonsky's FORCE OF EVIL (1948) But y'know, I gotta eat tomorrow, and I gotta pay rent. Wilco has expenses. They have to cover their overhead. It costs alot to come to your town and put on a show.
Please, think twice before you curse someone for having to play the same putrid game that, in one way or another, we all must play.

Rob Veal
"The Dashboard Saviors"
Contemporary of Uncle Tupelo

Posted by: Rob Veal on 06/08/07 at 6:17 PM Respond

the thermals turned down money from hummer. i'm sure they could use the "exposure" and money a lot more than jeff tweedy.

Posted by: ben on 06/08/07 at 8:46 PM Respond

"...I’m also not sure why this is news..."

Personally I'm still not sure.

Posted by: EJ on 06/09/07 at 11:09 PM Respond

Whateverrrrrr.....music snobs are incredibly boring. I love the song. Wouldn't have heard it otherwise and will probably go out and buy both a vw and the album. ha!

Posted by: Karen on 10/21/07 at 5:51 PM Respond