Last week myself I went to see Findlay Brown, at the Gladstone, a new pub/live music venue in South London.  

If you are wondering who Findlay is, you've probably heard his before music without knowing it. His song "Come Home" was the soundtrack for the Mastercard  ‘Priceless’ Christmas TV advert, which captured real people reuniting with their loved ones at the arrivals gate of Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The music for this TV ad campaign was pitched to Mastercard’s creative agency McCann Erickson by an independent sync company, via songwriter Findlay Brown’s manager. “I think the chorus from Come Home held some poignancy with the subject matter for the advert” claims Findlay.

Nobody ever says goodbye, but I don’t mind. Just come home. Come home"

A number of tracks were considered for the advert, “it was between me and Snow Patrol apparently, but I needed the exposure more than they did” he joked!

The advert, which has been used across the globe, was first used in 2006, and then again last Christmas.  “The use of the song definitely brought my music to a wider audience,” he said, “and although I got a small amount of ribbing from my friends for letting my music be used in an ad, most people thought it was a positive thing”. The awareness gained from the song being used in the advert had a significant impact, with a noticeable increase in the number of hits to his Myspace page and his official website over the last festive period. Findlay also found that when he played at last year’s music festivals, such as Glastonbury and the O2 Wireless Festival, that lots of people knew the words to the song, and were singing along to it! As a consequence of the advert’s success Come Home was released as a single by his label Peacefrog (also home to José González, whose track Heartbeats was used to great effect on the first Sony Bravia advert), which Findlay believes wouldn't have happened without the music appearing on the advert first. When he asked him if he would let his music be used again  for an advert he firmly stated that "It depends on what it was for. I wouldn't do anything for any cheese-based products, not even Dairy Lee".

We also got him to answer a few more questions by email about music's relationship with brands…

Where do you draw-the-line when it comes to which brands you would be prepared to work with?

It's all the same really. Apart from the obvious. It's hard to know which companies are ethical and which are not.

Would you be prepared to let a brand sponsor a tour, or even your next album?

Yes, if it was the right people or set up.

You mentioned that you've left your label Peacefrog, and are going DIY for the next album. Does this approach of doing everything for yourself change how you think about brands, especially if they can help you do what you want to do?

Record companies are Brands as much as anybody else. If “Star-bucks” can get my music to the most people without the music or creative process being compromised I'd be happy with that.

Agree or Disagree with the following statement "There is no such thing as selling out anymore, because there's no opposite of selling out. If you have your song on a car commercial, it's because your band needs to eat. It doesn't mean what it used to mean." John Mayer   

Put it this way I used to work in a chocolate factory in York and I was working for the man then, now it's on my terms and I don't have to wear a hair net. Most people own credit cards but we don't point our fingers at them. I am just trying to get by. I wish that our society was different; I think that it has peaked in terms of the relationship between ethics and economic stability. 

Like so many artist's Findlay can see the benefits of working with brands, and would be prepared to go further in terms of a deeper relationship, however only if the brand didn't try to compromise the music or the creative process.

Thanks Fin.