Weekly Music Publishing Update 2.10.17: Superbowl Spend & Sync

Arguably the best part of the Super Bowl each year is the slew of new commercials advertisers put together for the largest single television broadcast event in the US. Market Track, parent company to advertising tracking firm Competitrack, found that 62 brands advertised in 77 unique commercials throughout the four quarters and halftime. Combined, the ads made up for nearly 46 minutes of air time. Estimated ad spend was $460 million, with 21 brands spending at least $10 million each on TV spots. 92% of advertisers integrated their ads with social media either before or during the game.
So where does music come in? More than 30 commercials featured during Super Bowl LI used music, 26 of which licensed music for the uses (rather than having custom music composed). Not including TV show promos or movie trailers, the major publishers provided music for 17 ads. That means there was a huge uptick from previous years in independently published music. Billboard reported that 12 commercials acquired music licenses in one-off deals directly from self-published artists or boutique firms. Kevin Patrick, manager for Matt and Kim, whose song “It’s Alright” appeared in a Buick spot, said, “The extensive exposure we get from synch licensing through commercials has an intensively greater reach than we’ve gotten elsewhere. So synch has been a big focus for us.”Check out Synchtank’s 10 favorite music placements from Super Bowl LI, and tell us which ads were your favorite!