ADS MAKE MONEY FOR MOONEY SUZUKI.

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Author: Paoletta, Michael mpaoletta@billboard.com

MAKING THE BRAND

New York rock band the Mooney Suzuki can thank Madison Avenue and Hollywood for keeping its music alive when the going got tough. Despite being a casualty of the Sony-BMG merger, the Mooney Suzuki's music remained front and center on large and small screens.

Now, after months without a label to call home, the Mooney Suzuki has inked a worldwide deal with V2 Records.

The band's manager, Lisa Barbaris of So What! Media in New York, says the Mooney Suzuki would not have survived were it not for creatives at agencies and film and TV music supervisors. "The band would have had to break up," she says.

But by having its music placed in TV ads (Coors), TV shows ("The Osbournes") and films ("School of Rock"), it was able to keep going, Barbaris says.

After making more than 10 "appearances"â€"most recently in a TV spot for American Eagleâ€"the title track from the Mooney Suzuki's second and last Columbia Records album, "Alive & Amplified," will next be heard in an ad for, ironically enough, Suzuki. Ad agency Colby & Partners in Santa Monica, Calif., conceived the spot.

Jedd Katrancha, creative manager of Spirit Music Group, which handles the band's publishing, credits the Mooney Suzuki's popularity in the film and TV communities to its arty style of songwriting. "Their songs translate well to visual images," he says.

This could be due to the band members' backgrounds in art and design.

"The people we're having meetings with at the agencies are the same people we went to art and design school withâ€"literally," lead singer/guitarist Sammy James Junior tells Billboard. "So, it felt good to work togetherâ€"and it helps to pay our bills."

DRIVE MY CAR: These days, U.K. singer/songwriter Tom McRae is trekking across the United States on the inaugural Hotel Café tour (see story, below). He will surely be spotlighting tracks from his third album, "All Maps Welcome," released earlier this year in Europe and the United Kingdom via Sony BMG. For whatever reason, it remains label-less in the States. But that may change.

On Aug. 8, a new national TV spot for Pontiac's G6 model began airing; it features the sounds of McRae's "A Day Like Today." The track is culled from the artist's last album, "Just Like Blood," which was licensed by Nettwerk for release in the United States.

According to McRae's manager, Erika Schultz in Los Angeles, Virgin Digital and Nettwerk helped get the song in the spot. Leo Burnett/Detroit, formerly the Chemistri ad agency, counts Pontiac among its clients.

Virgin Digital works with Pontiac on several music initiatives (Billboard, May 7). Though the TV spot does not identify McRae or "A Day Like Today," its online versionâ€"viewable at pontiac.com, which has a link to virgindigital.com to purchase the musicâ€"displays song info.

The G6 McRae spot will be included on the next "Virgin Recommends" sampler, due next month. Also included will be another Pontiac spot, which has yet to air, that features M83's "Don't Save Us From the Flames."

So, while "A Day Like Today" is not from McRae's newest album, its placement in the ad could have a ripple effectâ€"particularly if it gets people talkingâ€"paving the way for a stateside label for "All Maps Welcome." Fingers crossed.

HIS & HERS: Beginning Sept. 12, Madeleine Peyroux's "Don't Wait Too Long" (from her Rounder album "Careless Love") will be heard in "Trolley" spots for the Levi's Dockers brand. Two 30-second adsâ€"in his and hers versionsâ€"will air on network and cable TV, the Internet and point-of-sale displays.

Created by the Foote Cone & Belding ad agency in San Francisco, the national "Trolley" campaign is scheduled to run for six months, Rounder licensing manager Shaleen Tethal says.

In recent months, Peyroux's music has been embraced by film and TV music supervisors ("Monster-In-Law," "Family Bonds," "Queer as Folk"). Next year, two Peyroux coversâ€""Dance Me to the End of Love" (from "Careless Love") and "The Good Life"â€"will be included in the Warner Bros. Pictures flick "Lucky You," directed by Curtis Hanson. Peyroux is scheduled to appear in the film.

WATCH OUT: Yes, that is Australian singer/songwriter Delta Goodrem in the new Maybelline promotional spread running in People magazine. Created by the magazine, Maybelline New York and Columbia Records, the "You Make a Difference" campaign honors women who have transformed their own lives or communities. The international pop star's participation coincides with the launch of her debut U.S. single, "Lost Without You," culled from her Columbia album "Born to Try," due Oct. 25.

PHOTO (COLOR): THE MOONEY SUZUKI found a new home on V2 Records after its song ‘Alive & Kicking’ racked up more than 10 film and TV credits.

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By Michael Paoletta