When asked to name a band that embodies the spirit of anti-corporate, non-conformist rock and roll, many will immediately jump to The Velvet Underground. In a time when the airwaves were immersed in the jangly, happy-go-lucky sounds of the hippie movement, Lou Reed and co offered a dark, abrasive alternative.

However, some readers may be surprised to know that as far as one former member of the group is concerned, the band were a bunch of sellouts. Yes, the story goes that when the band was offered their first paying gig — $75 to play a New Jersey high school — original drummer Angus MacLise left the group in protest.

“Angus was in it for art”, said guitarist Sterling Morrison. Alas, it seems there’s simply no room left for an Angus MacLise in today’s world. As Rolling Stone reports, Universal, the world’s biggest record label, are now officially in bed with the advertisers unlike ever before.

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The Global Music Data Alliance is a newly founded partnership between Universal and French branding company Havas Media, who’ve worked with the likes of McDonald’s and Coca Cola, and whom readers may remember as the minds behind retroactive music-video product placement.

Essentially, the two are now colluding to use the data collected by Universal on their consumers to help Havas Media sell the products of their clients. For example, every time a Kanye West fan buys an iTunes download or concert ticket, posts on his Facebook page or follows him on Twitter, the clicks become valuable marketing data.

For years, the data, which is meticulously documented by Universal, West’s label, provided record companies with the curious problem of how to best use that data to sell more stuff and make more money. They’re hoping the Global Music Data Alliance will solve that problem.

“We want to continue to find new revenue and marketing opportunities for all of our artists by… supercharging our efforts to realize previously untapped revenues from consumer brands and other new business partners,” says Universal chairman Lucian Grainge, though what the two stakeholders plan to do with the data remains vague.

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While it’s the dream of many artists to “realize previously untapped revenues from consumer brands”, it’s unlikely that unknown and up-and-coming artists will be the primary benefactors of this new deal, which Havas chairman Yannick Bollore says will allow their clients to “expand their common passion for music with fans”.

“We will have so much data that we can leverage for the purpose of better understanding the consumer and creating better experiences,” Dominique Delport, Havas’ global managing director, told Ad Age. “There is so much to invent.” With this new synergy between art and advertising, it’s no wonder both parties are excited.

While the Global Music Data Alliance raises many intriguing questions and a few worrying ones — e.g. What lengths will the partners go to to secure our data? — there’s no reason to feel despondent. It’s just par for the course in a world where Common can write a song for Coca Cola about refusing to sell out.

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