Sainsbury's song tops adverts playlist

Light And Day by The Polyphonic Spree, the soundtrack to the store's Try Something New Today adverts with chef Jamie Oliver, beat Nina Simone's Ain't Got No/I Got Life from the Muller yogurt commercials to the top spot.

The survey carried out by PRS for Music, an organisation which collects royalties on behalf of songwriters, revealed the most frequently used songs in adverts over the last five years.

The classical piece Eliza's Aria by Elena Kats-Chernin, made popular by Lloyds TSB's For The Journey campaign, came in third place.

It was followed by Take That hit Shine, this time used by Morrisons supermarket and Left Bank Two performed by The Noveltones, used by Waitrose to promote its Essentials range.

Successful advertising campaigns have led some songs to become synonymous with the products they are used to sell, such as Hamlet cigars and Bach's Air from Suite 3 in D major.

For many Dvorak's Symphony No 9 in E Minor (From the New World) will be forever associated with Hovis bread thanks to the popular advert that employed the tune.

The survey also revealed the most performed jingles – tunes created specifically for an advertising campaign – since 2005.

Optical Express came top followed by the National Accident Helpline and insurers Direct Line.

Churchill Insurance and PC World were the next most frequently played jingles.

Roger Greenaway, who co-wrote I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, the tune used in a memorable campaign by Coca-Cola, said: ''Music makes an emotional impact upon people and a well-crafted song can lock in the listeners' mind for life, making it a powerful marketing tool.

''There's a split between brands that use specific jingles and those that prefer to sample well-known music by popular bands but one thing is clear – the right song boosts an ad and can create a positive association to a brand – gold dust for marketers.''

Top 10 Most Performed Songs in Advertising

1 Light And Day by The Polyphonic Spree – Sainsbury's Try Something New Today

2 Ain't Go No/I Got Life by Nina Simone – Muller

3 Eliza's Aria by Elena Kats-Chernin – Lloyds TSB's For The Journey

4 Shine by Take That – Morrisons

5 Left Bank Two by The Noveltones – Waitrose Essentials

6 All Possibilities by Badly Drawn Boy – Comet

7 Knickknack by Bobby McFerrin – Bupa

8 Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield – Pantene Pro-V

9 Send It On by Sean Paul – Vauxhall Corsa

10 Epoca by Gotan Project – Finish Dishwasher Tablets

Top 10 Most Performed Jingles

1 Optical Express

2 National Accident Helpline

3 Direct Line

4 Churchill Insurance

5 PC World

6 Go Compare Insurance

7 Vanish Oxi Action

8 Revels – Take A Chance

9 Zurich Change Happenz

10 Moneysupermarket.com