Music Dealers

If you’ve seen Visa’s latest spot and are over 21, you should recognize that grungey guitar anthem in the background.  

Yes, Visa has licensed the the Smashing Pumpkins 1994 hit, “Today.”   Even though the uplifting lyrics are only heard at the end, they do offer an appropriate closure to the spot, and the song’s overall tone fits the strategy and execution nicely.  And beyond the story-telling aid, the instant recognition of the song makes it a valuable component for the spot as well.  So, it’s a good choice by Visa.

However, it is slightly startling that Billy Corgan agreed to this.  Sure, the Pumpkin’s frontman is always looking for attention and a way to stay in the public eye and make some extra loot – and artists of all shapes and sizes are licensing their songs for commercial purposes these days.  But given his past public defiance for using “Today” in this manner, it’s surprising he agreed to license this particular song.  In a 2004 Newsweek interview, he said he turned down “heavy, heavy money” to license “Today,” because, as he put it, some things are sacred.