New book uncovers roots of music in advertising

Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology Timothy D. Taylor has written the first book to truly tell the history of music in U.S. advertising, "The Sounds of Capitalism: Advertising, Music, and the Conquest of Culture" (University of Chicago Press, 2012).

 

Taylor's book takes readers on a delightful, toe-tapping journey that hits all the high notes, from Pepsi-Cola's 1939 "hits the spot" jingle through the legendary Chiquita banana song in 1944 and, of course, the memorable 1971 commercial, "Hilltop," in which Coca-Cola taught the world to sing, and on into the present day, where "the lag time between popular culture and advertising is now infinitesimal," Taylor explained.