I've always hated hearing my favourite artists in commercials, but I've made an exception after what Wilco did.
Basically they have made every effort to have their last few albums available for free download before they are released in stores. They openly tell their fans that while they prefer them to pay, they don't hold downloading against them and appreciate the fact that they enjoy their music. To compensate, they put their music in commercials, but only if they are cool with the product, like their recent song appearances in VW ads (a few members of the band drive VWs).
They argue it is another vehicle to get the music out there and that it is a way of getting paid by the companies so they can keep encouraging the fans to get the music for free.
To me, this is sort of like 100s of years ago when art would typically be subsidised by the wealthy, but often available for all to appreciate.
I can sort of see where they are coming from and i definitely see this being the trend as the public become less and less inclined to pay (unfortunately). Radiohead and wilco are doing what we are going to be seeing more and more of, bands reinventing how they get their revenue and giving the music away to the fans for free.