WHAT RHYMES WITH SHILL?

In pretty much the same way that Fay Weldon flogged her credibility as an author to the Bulgari jewellery people, McDonalds are inviting rap acts to sign away their artistic honour. McDonalds have made an open offer to rap acts that, if they write a song which mentions their chopped up cow products, and it gets paid on the radio, they'll give the act a quid or so. For each play.

That's how cheaply McDonalds value integrity - they're only going to pay a quid for it. For McDonalds, of course, this is more than a bargain: it's way cheaper than buying a radio spot, and they're infiltrating editorial. Added to which, if the song is a hit, then there's going to be club pay, tv play, people humming their adverts on the streets - all for free. It's a rotten deal all round - though that's not how McD are spinning it:

"That payment strategy not only limits the risk for McDonald’s, or any other brand looking to partner up with music acts, but also encourages artists to produce a hit song. “At the end of the day, this has to work for the brands, and we want to deliver quantitative results,” Mr. Rome said. “The risk involved for upfront payment is all eliminated. If an artist isn’t able to deliver [a hit], there’s no out-of-pocket cost to the client. You pay for performance.” A hit song also means more than just radio airplay, which could extend the reach of the brand. “If a song is getting a lot of airplay, there’s a strong likelihood it will be played in clubs, be downloaded, be turned into a ringtone and sell more CDs,” Mr. Rome said. Because radio play is easier to track, brands only pay artists when their song is spun by a station. Maven can also track how many times a song plays on satellite radio..."

Apparently this seedy little trick has already been pulled for Seagrams Gin.



Sorry, guys, we don't think they're backdating.

Thanks to Adnan for the links.

music mcdonalds