Music and politics aren’t always the easiest of bedfellows. When artists get it right (be it Woody Guthrie or the Last Poets) it can be truly inspirational, but when done badly (do I really need to give examples?) it can do a lot more than just make you cringe. However, it doesn’t seem to stop political parties, especially in the US, from using music as a key part of their campaign message. Why? Because music is great communicator, it can say something about a candidate that other forms of communication can fail to deliver. Music has the ability inspire us, to communicate often complex messages and emotions in a really simple and poignant way that we can all understand.

So it’s no surprise that both Obama and McCain camps have been fighting over the right to use the music of John Mellencamp. Mellencamp like contemporaries Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle, is unafraid to comment on what is going on in society. This is not floury florid poetry, this is heartfelt social commentary.

Mellencamp has found it hard to get arrested in the UK, metaphorically speaking. Maybe it stems back to the days when he was being sold to us as the new Springsteen, under the name John Cougar. I’m not sure how many acts that have been labelled the new Dylan have benefited from that particular badge, so it’s no surprise that Mellancamp hasn’t benefited from being pronounced as the new ‘Boss’, especially as we weren’t bored of the old one!  However, Mellencamp has made some very laudable blue collar rock and roll since his critical breakthrough (at least in the US) of his 1985 album, Scarecrow.

So come the latest presidential election it was no surprise that  Democratic candidates Hilary Clinton and John Edwards used his song “Our Country” at their rallies. When Clinton finally seceded to Obama she greeted her supporters to Mellencamp’s “Thank You”,  while Joe Biden, on being announced as Obama’s running mate the Democrat’s used another Mellencamp song, “Pink Houses”, to welcome him to the stage. And the power of Mellencamp’s music to communicate was not lost on the Republicans, with McCain using both “Pink Houses” and “Our Country” to communicate the Democrat party’s own values, till he was asked to cease and desist by Mellencamp’s camp.

Knowing Mellencamp’s own personal politics I’m sure he will do anything to ensure a Democratic president is inaugurated in the White House come the 20th January 2009 . However, I’m surely not the only one who is curious to find out what impact all this exposure has had on Mellencamp’s record sales in the US?

One of the big issues for all record companies at the moment, and one we spend a lot of time working on for our label clients, is helping them identify and effectively exploit all the potential revenue streams that are available to them via their artists and the package of rights that they control. The easiest things for any label to monetise is their existing catalogue. So the moral dilemma for any label is would they as far as trying to influence a political party on what music they use at the next election? Or is the simplest solution to never try and mix music and politics…

citizensound sound says:

Although the next UK general election is unlikely to happen until 2010, I was wondering which artists or songs would provide the perfect soundtrack for the UK’s three main political parties? So get voting, and let us know who you think should get the job for Labour, the Tory party and the Lib Dems…