1) Monster, Inc – “Getting Started”
What’s most remarkable about the first three spots on our list is that they were created by NBC’s in-house agency. That’s crazy because a TV network’s role is normally just to host the game and collect the checks. But at a time when NBC shareholders demand revenue growth in spite of unprecedented competition for eyeballs, NBC has revamped how early and how deeply they engage brands whose world could be changed by a single TV commercial; such as this one which tells a modernized version of Monster Cable CEO Noel Lee’s life story.
Agency: Content Innovation Agency (NBC’s in-house agency)
Music: “Savior (ft. Quavo)” by Iggy Azalea
2) NBC Sports – “Best of U.S. (Nathan Chen)”
Nathan Chen will be the first Olympic figure skater to include five (count them…five) types of quadruple jumps in a routine. CIA’s choice to use James Brown’s “The Boss” is cultural genius.
Agency: Content Innovation Agency (NBC’s in-house agency)
Music: ”The Boss” by James Brown
3) NBC Sports – “Best of U.S. (Shaun White)”
Like the Nathan Chen spot, CIA chose a song that charted well before the subject of our spot was even born. Whatever. It gives the spot a timeless, cross-generational feel.
Agency: Content Innovation Agency (NBC’s in-house agency)
Music: “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath
4) PepsiCo – “Doritos Blaze vs. Mtn Dew Ice”
Morgan Freeman in a rap lip-sync battle with Peter Dinklage. That pretty much says it all.
Every spot that made our list this year uses source music instead of original music. We harbor an admitted bias towards original music, but the customer music we heard was pretty pedestrian. No blazed trails of which to speak.
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Music: “Look At Me Now (ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes)” by Chris Brown
“Get Ur Freak On” by Missy Elliot
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Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 50,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians. mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com. 
