Rolling Stones Sell Microsoft Right To Use Song In Ads

LONDON - The Rolling Stones, ending their ban on selling song rights to advertisers, will let Microsoft Corp. use their hit "Start Me Up" in a commercial for Windows 95.

Although news accounts in Britain suggested the group was being paid up to $12 million for the song rights, a Microsoft spokeswoman said yesterday, "It's more like a couple million." She was not specific, however.

The song will be used on the first TV commercial for the new operating-system software, which goes on sale in the U.S. next Thursday.

The Sun, a national tabloid, reported that lead singer Mick Jagger set a price of $12 million.

"When Microsoft approached Mick, he quoted a ludicrous amount of money thinking they would turn him down," an unidentified Stones source was quoted as telling the newspaper. "To his surprise they agreed almost immediately."

It is the first time Jagger and Keith Richards, the Stones songwriters, have allowed songs for which they own the copyrights to be used for a commercial endorsement, The Sun and the Financial Times reported.

Earlier Stones songs, for which Jagger and Richards do not control the copyrights, have appeared in commercials. A Stones publicist did not return phone calls for comment.

Jay Coleman, founder and chief executive of EMCI, an entertainment marketing company, said that the reported price sounded "extraordinarily high" but that the song would be a "perfect fit" for the Windows 95 campaign because "Start Me Up" is an anthem that spans several generations of Stones fans.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates reportedly wanted "Start Me Up" for the Windows 95 ads because a key new feature of the product is an on-screen "start" button to launch programs.

The Stones are the latest in a long line of '60s rebels whose creative output is ending up on Madison Avenue. Last year, Bob Dylan turned over the rights to "The Times They are A-Changin' " to Coopers & Lybrand, an accounting firm, for use in its ads. That same year, "Mercedes-Benz," by Janis Joplin, accompanied an ad for the luxury cars of the same name.

Information from Newsday is included in this report