It’s not my job to be a creative; it’s my job to facilitate the creatives’ vision," says Bill Meadows, music producer at Crispin Porter+Bogusky (CP+B), Miami. Modesty aside, Meadows’ contributions to Ikea, Mini Cooper, and Sirius Satellite Radio spots reveal his ability to find just the right music—original or licensed—for the job.
For example, in the offbeat Ikea ad "Family Room," directed by the Swedish collective StyleWar via bicoastal Smuggler, a woman sits on a couch while her two kids play video games. A baldheaded, bespectacled man pops into the frame holding a sign that reads "$500 family room makeovers," as female voices sing, "$500 makeover." The man displays a placard that says, "#1," and the voices gently intone, "One." Then we see sped-up images of a crew creating one design option. The woman is a little thrown off by the whirlwind of activity, but the kids are oblivious to the goings-on. The bald man reappears, holding a "#2" sign, the voices sing, "Two," and a second furniture arrangement is speedily presented. Then a third design option follows. At the end of the spot, a boy who looks like a younger version of the bald guy holds up a sign that says, "Help yourself to unböring," and the voices sing, "Ikea."
Similarly, "Bedroom" offers $770 decorating ideas for a bedroom to a dazzled couple. Andrea Perry of Tequila Mockingbird, Austin, Texas, composed the scores for the two ads.
"It’s immediately likable," says Meadows, referring to the ads’ light and slightly quirky music. He points out that the score needed to play off the initial confusion experienced by the woman (in "Family Room") and the couple (in "Bedroom") when they encounter the frenetic decorating teams. "There’s a lot going on [in both spots]," Meadows says. "The people are a little confused at first, and the music lets you know everything is cool. It puts people at ease to watch the clip, but it doesn’t distract."
Meadows notes that the high quality of work that comes out of CP+B makes his job easier; rarely is he put in a situation where he has to find a well-known song to prop up mediocre product shots. "With spots like that, all you really remember is the song," he points out. "Our creative is so good that the music is just icing. It helps, but the creative idea is really what drives it."
The music producer, who joined CP+B early last year, also worked on Mini Cooper’s "Breeze," directed by Warren Kushner of bicoastal Bedford Falls. The commercial starts off like countless other car spots featuring a guy, free as can be, tooling down the road. But this ad takes a heartwarming turn when we see a shot of an adorable bulldog—his paw perched on the side view mirror and his ear gently flapping in the breeze. And then there’s the third passenger—the pooch’s feline buddy, whose fur is being blown back by the wind. The ad’s tag: "Things will never be the same."
Bang Music, New York, created the music for "Breeze." Meadows relates that Bang had a pre-existing piece of music that—with a little tweaking—was just right for the charming spot. "We took a track they had done previously and worked on it a little bit," he says. "It was close, but there were just a few minor things [to adjust] to make it fit just right." Bang’s Brian D. Jones composed and performed on the track; Jones and executive producer Lyle Greenfield co-wrote the lyrics.
According to Meadows, approximately 75 percent of the spots he works on use original music. Frequent collaborators include: Human, New York; Mutato Muzika, Los Angeles; and Tequila Mockingbird.
But for a Sirius Satellite Radio campaign, Meadows turned to Ten Music, Santa Monica, to acquire licensed material for the project. (Ten offers tracks that can be licensed from several record labels.) The Sirius Satellite package included the ads: "Bear Witness," "Bounce," "Planet Jazz," "Strings" and "Amp Reactor." Ryan Honey, of Heavy Inc., New York, directed the graphics-heavy campaign. "Music on those spots was really important because [we] were animating to the music," Meadows says.
Meadows also points out that since Sirius is a music provider, it was important to find tracks that demonstrated that the satellite radio outfit was cutting edge. Recordings by artists such as Dr. Octagon (hip-hop), the Chemical Brothers (electronica), the Emerson String Quartet (classical), Stone Sour (metal) and Jimmy Smith (jazz) provided scores for the ads.
Career Shift
Prior to joining CP+B, Meadows practiced law. At the same time, he produced and played in rock groups, and was also a DJ. Back in his college days at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., Meadows played in a band with Andrew Keller, who is now a creative director at CP+B. The two remained friends, and Meadows was recently struck by Keller’s enthusiasm for his job and the ad business in general. Meadows, who wasn’t entirely happy with the legal profession, knew it was time to make the switch.
"The agency was thinking about establishing a new position of music producer," relates Meadows. "I was lucky in that I was ready to make a move about the same time Crispin was ready to open a door for somebody."
Musing on changing attitudes toward spot music, Meadows says that a few years ago, many musicians looked down on commercial work. He cites Neil Young’s "This Note’s For You," an anti-corporate sponsorship song, as an example of the then-prevalent attitude.
Now, Meadows continues, "there isn’t any stigma attached to [composing for commercials or having a track appear on a spot]. Underground and known artists are recognizing that it’s a great creative outlet. That’s great for everybody. If you have more creative minds generating music for spots, everybody’s spots get better."
