MEEP! Tosh <tosh3@earthlink.net> wrote:

It is also interesting that in Japan - that commercials are the mode to sell songs and artists. Radio I think is pretty much not in existence - with respect to playing new music. A lot of the singles released in Japan - always mention that this song is heard in some commercial. It works both ways, actually... singles are often stickered as being featured in such-and-such a commercial, and commercials almost always identify the artist (at the very least) responsible for the music being used. A lot of covers are licensed for commercials, and are credited to the performing artists instead of the writers... there has been a rash of faux-Clash tunes on TV recently. It's also pretty freaky going to a dance-oriented club here and seeing the DJ prominently display the jacket of whatever he's spinning at the time (presumably so all the happy shoppers can go out, buy the record, and shout the lyrics they don't already know in unison the following week). With DJs at home, that's unheard of. (And more to the point, it's *so* not cool.)

-me