Read This: The pains and pleasures of whoring out your music

In 2012, veteran hip hop act Public Enemy had an unexpected, late-career hit in the U.K. with a track called “Harder Than You Think.” What made this commercial breakthrough possible was the licensing of that particular song for a television spot promoting the Paralympic Games, a potentially credibility-damaging move the group had resisted for years. Beastie Boys’ late Adam Yauch also made a point of keeping the group’s music out of ads, even stipulating as much in his will. But at a time when music has all but ceased to be a salable commodity on its own, the temptation to allow one’s songs to be used in movies, TV shows, and advertisements is incredibly powerful and tempting. Now, Cuepoint’s Mike “DJ” Pizzo has weighed the benefits and hazards of music licensing in an informative, bluntly-titled article called “The Art Of Selling Out.” Largely setting aside the issue of artistic integrity, Pizzo writes about what artists can realistically expect to earn from licensing their songs and what potential risks they are taking by doing so.