Commercial Jingles

       Advertising is one of the biggest cash generators for use of musical compositions. A good publisher must know how to determine the worth of a writer’s song (while keeping their writer satisfied), negotiate the fees depending on the use, and keep good relationships with their clients. A good publisher also must know about the past evolution of music in advertising in general and be able to exploit the upcoming developments in a quickly changing industry. When advertising companies have budgets over $3,000,000 for a super bowl commercial, these relationships and a publisher’s knowledge REALLY count.

“Aside from broadcast or live show sponsorship, the advertising industry has capitalized on the popularity or particular music artists or styles in advertisements themselves. Apart from the actual appearance of popular music artists in advertisements, this may involve the use of preexisting popular music, or of accompanying music or jingles written in the style of a currently fashionable genre…”^[1]

            Advertising is twice as effective with music. It is almost impossible to think about submarine sandwiches without hearing  “Five Dollar.. Five Dollar.. Five Dollar Footlong!” and acknowledging the deal at Subway before considering other sandwich chains.  To a publisher, jingles mean licenses and licenses mean publishing income, but jingles from their own artist’s popular songs can mean MORE income.

The difference is really that the jingle writer writes a song for the company to use as a “work made for hire” where the writer (and maybe the publisher) get(s) paid once, but no longer owns the copyright. When a pre-existing popular song is used for a jingle, whether it’s the exact same recording or a completely different version with new lyrics – usually the original writer and publisher still get paid, keep their copyrights, and issue a temporary license to the advertising company. A good advertising campaign can last many years and be used in several commercials; although a publisher can be extremely successful with commercial jingle writers, most strive to strike a deal or get what broadcasters call “spots” for their pre-existing songs. Steve Gordon, author of The Future of the Music Business: How to Succeed In a Digital.. claims that use of popular music in advertising is a recent event:

“Prior to the 1980’s , music in television advertisment was generally limited to jingles and incidental music. I grew up with catchy product-related jingles like “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet”… This system eventually faded away during the 1980’s and was replaced by a commercial landscape in which advertisements were supplemented by popular pre-recorded music”[2]

It seems that many believe that the early use of Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of Love “for a 1985 Burger King commercial and “Revolution” by the Beatles for a 1987 Nike product inspired many artists to take advantage of the new available revenue. Most commercials seem to feature songs with a feeling that they want customers to feel about their product or even just to grab their attention. “An advertiser may purchase the rights to a particular song because he believes that the message is exactly what his product needs. “Cant Live Without You,” the Barry Manilow song, serves the telephone company with great effectiveness.”[3] Television and radio stations also tend to choose a music trend or genre for advertisements that is selling well commercially. Since the emergence of music videos, many television commercials have applied the uses of enhanced visual effects and exciting music to make their product seem exciting, or even slow and dramatic to give the feeling of a feature film: “Many commercials are conceived as little plays, and music is used to help create the appropriate mood or perhaps to punch up action.”[4] The other method is to visually feature the artist on screen to show up with the product while their song is playing to persuade fans of the artist to buy the product.

Often the songs being used are reworked with different lyrics to match the message or name of the product more closely. A good example and very effective radio commercial is the “Keyes, Keyes, Keyes… Keyes on Van Nuys” commercial which is an altered version of the super catchy “Barbara Ann”  written by Fred Fassert made popular by The Beach Boys' cover version from the sixties. Often the catchy popular music is used to create an “earworm” and get the song stuck in a listeners head and think about the product; which in this case is a local car dealership.

            Not all artists are willing to sell out their songs just for the extra publishing revenue, and it is important for a publisher to understand when a writer does not want the sanctity of their artwork to be defiled by a corporation in order to sell a product. A notable example would be the denial for use of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” to be used for a Preparation H commercial. Although ideas like this are extremely clever, a good publisher must know when to say “no” to a deal that might be harmful to a writer's image or just be bad for business. For these reasons, a publisher might look into signing writers who enjoy writing novelty songs that would fit in slightly inappropriate circumstances.  An example of this type of writers songs could be Sir Mix A Lot’s “Baby Got Back” which is constantly used from Target advertisements to Coors Light commercials, Burger King and so on.

            Many publishers market their writers' new versions of adapted pop songs. If the original song for a new commercial or jingle is not administered by a publisher that has a new version for that song, clearance of the original can be tricky. A good publisher must not only be able to find writers that have good ideas for their own popular titles, but must be familiar with copyright clearance for film and television in order to pitch their new idea using someone else’s song. A good publisher must see other publishers as a way to make good connections instead of a competitor. It may come down to relationships such as this when another publisher has to approve a new version of their song to be used (on top of any writers credit claimed by the writer of the new version!). As many writers may be hired by a publishing company to strictly make new versions of popular songs, choosing the right writers can be an extremely important decision for a new publisher.

“Jingle writers must take direction well, since they are responsible for pleasing a client with very specific goals in mind. They should be skilled in many musical styles and be strong arrangers.”[5]

            Since the late eighties, popular music has been not only a growing trend, but even a way for new artists to hit the mainstream audience. However if the economy takes a harsh turn, or the industry falls on dark times, the age of original jingles might regain the title. Many advertisers are switching to the traditional narrator and taking advantage of library music to fill in the background. This is why a music publisher should have all their bases covered to fit any style of music or mood that an advertisement might decide upon. If an advertising agency wants a particular pop hit to be in their upcoming commercial, but doesn’t want to pay the full price of licensing that work, it might be quite resourceful to say “I have a writer that can come up with a similar score and for a more reasonable price.” In times when the music business is slow it will pay to take any job and every job to beat the competition.

[1] Shepherd, John. Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003

[2] Gordon, Steve. The Future of the Music Business: How to Succeed with the New Digital Technologies. Music Dispatch, 2008. p 93

[3] Karmen, Steve. Through The Jingle Jungle: The Art and Business of Making Music for Commercials Billboard Books, 1989.

[4] Baskerville, David The Music Business Handbook and Career Guide.  Thousand Oaks: 2006. p 413

[5] Baskerville, David The Music Business Handbook and Career Guide.  Thousand Oaks: 2006. p 486

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