Thats not for rent

Hats off to Doors drummer John Densmore for refusing to allow Doors' songs to be used in TV commercials. Excerpt from the always amazing blog, Boing Boing:

"People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music," Densmore said. "I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn't commit suicide because of this music…. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent."

In economics terms, the benefits he describes are external benefits; ie, the Doors' music provides benefit that are external to the decision maker. Hence, in such instances it is frequently the case that the decision maker chooses a course that personally optimal but socially suboptimal. Some call this a consequence of "missing markets." In this case the missing market is reflected in the inability of Doors fans to express their preferences or influence the decision. By nixing the commercial use of Doors' tunes, Densmore seems to have internalized these external benefits. Thank you, John. Link