Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TaE0A0Vjck

Derby scores nicely with their song "If Ever There's A Reason" in a commercial for Ford Explorer. Sweet and lovely.

Even in the world of licensing unknown startup artists there are some that always do better than others. I love these songs above and beyond their licensable accessibility and, while you might readily recognize a regularly licensed track from Death Cab For Cutie or (I feel it coming) MGMT, these are great songs too.

I've abbreviated the songs, because I can't upload more than 2MB. Bleh.

Sex And Reverb: CORONER.
Great laid backed super-melody. Most recently used in an episode of Men In Trees, Sex and Reverb tracks get regularly licensed for film and TV, including CBS' Numb3rs, NBC's Knight Rider, Fox's Drive, and ABC's What About Brian.

SuperGiant: HERE SHE COMES.
This song is brand new, and I love the bluesy, Beatles-like feel to it. SuperGiant's generally electronic/rock hybrid sound was spawned in the UK as H2S04 and was licensed for episodes of HBO's The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. The band's other incarnations have been used in What About Brian and Dirt.

The Elevator Drops: JULES.
Recently use in Toyota's Sequoia commercial. It's a chaos of pop sound. The band's Sex Pistols-like Resistance will also be heard on the upcoming Dakota Fanning/Forrest Whitaker feature Winged Creatures.

Derby: STREETLIGHT. So happily upbeat and poppy, Derby was used five times in last year's season of Men In Trees, in ABC's Eli Stone, and this month, a nationally airing Coke commercial.

Brainpool: JUNK.
With incredible production, Swedish artists Brainpool can effortlessly run the musical gamut of influences, which range from Brian Eno to Led Zeppelin. Licensed in Notes From The Underbelly and One Tree Hill, , this Swedish Grammy award winning band is virtually unheard of in the States.

Parry Gripp: DO YOU LIKE WAFFLES
Sadly, this song has never been licensed. I had Parry (of Nerfherder fame) write this on spec years ago, in response to a kid's breakfast product and it was never used. But it has spawned countless YouTube inspirations and literally over a million views.
Maybe someday it'll sell a waffle, too.