hey
anyone know who does this? Female voice...

sophia shorai

edit: commissioned specifically for target, so don't expect a commercial release.

So, everytime a Beatles song is used in a commercial - I'm also thinking of a recent Beatles credit card commercial that the Features refused to do - is it a given that it's Michael Jackson milking the catalog? Or is there more to it?

more or less the label milking the catalog. royalties are still paid to the artist. licensing beatles' tracks are really hard to clear through publishing because they want so much money for it.... but it's usually easier to license a cover of a beatles track.

Ah. That makes sense. So, would there be just one guy in charge of OKing various covers? Could Macca have any recourse to stop really lousy shit?

Is Michael to blame for any of it?

here's how a sync & licensing deal works.
-request is put in to use a specific song.
-licensing takes a look at it, goes through publishing and if publishing okays the track, a quote is given. there isn't just one person okaying it - it has to go through all the hoops (at least at a major label)
-contract is signed. label gets part of the cash paid, as well as licensing/publishing and the artist.
-then you'll hear the song used in film/tv.

in order to do a cover of a song, you have to get the rights to do so from the original artist, so if you license a cover - both artists get paid on the deal. macca won't have any recourse to stop anything, because it's mainly up to the artist/label.