In the first season of Martin Scorsese’s show Vinyl, about a record company in the 1970s, Warner Music Group scored what it says was a record number of music placements for a TV series. At the last Super Bowl, Warner had its most successful year ever in terms of the number of music placements in commercials.

The reason for this high batting rate? Well, clearly, the depth of Warner’s catalogue of landmark recordings from iconic labels such as Atlantic, Elektra, ...