In Billboard ($), the magazine’s “With the Brand” columnist, Josh Rabinowitz, says the time has come to award a Grammy for best song and use of music in a commercial. His five arguments:

1. With a flailing record industry in full effect, many of the significant recording “players” of the academy world have migrated to the branding music world. Thus, in effect, the Grammys can continue to support their industry.
2. With the dissolution of meaningful radio, advertisements—whether on TV, in cinema or on the Web—are bridging music from artists big and small, known and not, to the masses. Feist’s breakout via an Apple commercial is a most relevant, current example of this. But how many more can you name without really thinking?
3. Some of the biggest artists are creating music specifically for ads, in partnership with brands, and they are just beginning to be nominated for Grammys. Nas, KRS-One and Kanye West, along with producer Rick Rubin, earned a nod for the Nike ad track “Better Than I’ve Ever Been.” And the Lifehouse song “From Where You Are,” created specifically for an Allstate ad, debuted at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 last fall.
4. The brands, like Wal-Mart, Target and Apple, are becoming key distributors of recorded music in the States.
5. As younger people embrace mobile and digital technology as their sole means of gathering information, communicating and accessing their entertainment, it’ll be the music from ads and brands that blare and/or purr through their headphones. Why not stay in tune with the future consumers of music?

This is a long-overdue proposal. My only complaint is that it is too timid. We can look forward to the day when Head On commercials get nominated for Best Picture—and those Ketel One magazine ads make the Booker Prize shortlist.