Ain’t singin’ for Pepsi
Ain’t singin’ for Coke
I don’t sing for nobody
Makes me look like a joke
This note’s for you.

Ain’t singin’ for Miller
Don’t sing for Bud
I won’t sing for politicians
Ain’t singin’ for Spuds
This note’s for you.

— “This Note’s for You,” by Neil Young

Far be it from me to look down on bands that go corporate, now that I’m selling ads on the blog. But I did read with interest this piece in The Wall Street Journal this morning headlined “The Most Corporate Band in America:”

About 30 minutes into every concert on the Black Eyed Peas’ current tour, band leader will.i.am performs a freestyle rap, riffing on text messages sent by audience members. It’s a flashy solo turn for the musician who has steered the group since 1995. It’s also a moment in the spotlight for the tour’s primary sponsor, BlackBerry, which delivers the messages scrolling up two huge screens on the stage.

On its path from rootsy L.A. hip-hop troupe to pop juggernaut, the Black Eyed Peas have been escorted by a parade of corporate backers. From Coors to Levi’s, Honda to Apple, Verizon to Pepsi, brands have padded the group’s video budgets, underwritten its tours and billboarded band members in prominent places. When Apple was preparing the 2003 launch of the iTunes store, The Peas’ “Hey Mama” became the first song associated with the iconic campaign’s dancing silhouettes, a point of pride for will.i.am, the band’s frontman….

The Black-Eyed Peas — of whom I’ve heard, but couldn’t begin to tell you the name of a single song they’re known for — were hardly alone, even though they got top “honors.” The Rolling Stones, Tony Bennett, Pearl Jam and even Bob Dylan were mentioned. (Mercifully, my main man Elvis Costello was not.)

In a world in which nobody pays for music any more, I guess the only way for a band to get obscenely rich in the rock ‘n’ roll tradition is by picking up corporate sponsorships.

Not that they need to get obscenely rich. I actually think that performers having to make a living from performing, rather than getting richer than Croesus off record sales — or corporate endorsements — would restore some balance to the universe. But hey, again, if I’m going corporate (or at least, hoping to go corporate) …

Here’s a little ironic postscript. I was going to add a parenthetical to the headline of this post, something like “(hint: It’s not Neil Young),” but a funny thing happened on the way to doing that. I went to grab an embed code for the video of Young’s “This Note’s for You”… and I had to watch an ad for the Picadilly restaurant chain first.

The embed code was disabled, but you can see that video at this link. I don’t know whether you’ll get the ad or not — I’m not sure how those things work. But I’m trying to learn…