Campaign Theme Songs:
In presidential elections it is customary to pick a theme song that is representative of your candidate and campaign. Each campaign has a message and/or motto that they center themselves around. Most campaigns songs are already famous songs by popular artists. The listeners will be already familiar with your music or fans of it already. These songs are used to add to the theme and insight an emotional response from the audience.
The theme song will be used throughout the campaign and needs to be properly licensed and approved. Without taking the proper steps your campaign will most likely be in violation of the artists trademark. Check out my previous blog post on the Lanham Act (link) for more information about this type of infringement.
How to choose the right song?
The song titles or portion of lyrics should tie into your candidates message. Finding the right theme song can be difficult and may require your campaign to emphasize either the tone or portion of lyrics. It is important to remember this song should be appropriate for the general publicly as to not offend anyone.
These songs are typically upbeat and nostalgic for many of the voters. The tone of the piece is often the most important factor because you want the listeners to immediately build a positive association with your candidate. This does not mean lyrics are not important. Any distasteful or inappropriate lyrics will look negatively towards your candidate. But most audiences will look only at the surface-level value or meaning of the song. Look for songs that will be appropriate to a variety of listeners while channeling the heart of your campaign message. This is also an opportunity to set your candidate apart from the rest by making the piece personal to them.
Update: To see some examples of some of my favorite campaign songs, see my recent blog post (link).
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