Music & Political Campaigns

Are political campaign strategists music supervisors? Do political campaigns follow the same artist permission/licensing standards of music supervisors?

Music and political campaigns have worked hand in hand for decades. Who could forget Bill Clinton's 1992 anthem "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac? However, over the years there have been many artists who have NOT been happy with political figures using their material on the campaign trail. Just this week the Silversun Pickups sent a cease-and-desist order to the Romney camp for the use of their song "Panic Switch."

Per my research and not surprisingly so, it seems that more musicians have issues with Republican candidates using their music than Democrats. However, some artists like Brooks & Dunn are happy to share their music with the world no matter if it's being used by a donkey or an elephant (both Obama 2008 and Bush 2004 used "Only In America" during their campaigns).

I've posted a couple interesting articles on the subject, including CNN's article about the Silversun Pickups.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/16/politics/music-in-campaigns/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/02/29/147592568/music-in-political-campaigns-101

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-petty-tells-michele-bachmann-to-stop-playing-american-girl-20110628

 And if you want to check out some famous campaign/music pairings check out Spotify's playlist titled Campaign Songs Past & Present.

As we approach election day I'll be interested to hear not only what comes out of the candidates mouth, but what plays over venue speakers and runs in TV ads.