A Q for those who do commercials, jingles, etc....

[chrispnyc]

Hello

For all of you that write, producer and engineer music for jingles, radio, commercials, film, etc. How did you break into it? Do you have an agent? I am looking to give it whirl. I think it might be a good exercise in deadlines, working under time pressure, and dealing with music/audio that I don't really care for (ie applying myself regardless of whether or not the music is pleasant to me).

thanks
Chris

[sndgeek]

Hi Chris,

Let me start by saying my experience in the commercial jingle world is limited. That said, I do work for a very experienced composer who has seen all sorts of gigs, including a few commercials and logos. I also have a few friends and cohorts in the advertising business.

The sorts of gigs you're talking about are usually handled by a media/music firm. They get the word out by mailers to advertising companies and making themselves visible via marketing. An agent is looking for a commission on these gigs, and most of the time the jobs are too small to pay off. The best bet as an independent is to head to an advertisers' convention with good-looking demo reels and resumes. Oh, and a smile doesn't hurt either.

In terms of the work: you're right, it's an excellent exercise in deadlines. Most of the time you have only a matter of hours to turn a concept into a theme. Unfortunately this process is contaminated by the political process of group-think and producers who talk in terms of emotions, with no real idea of what they want ('great, now can you give it more energy?'). They also like to have a myriad of options to choose from, which is a challenge musically. Try working on three notes for 8-10 hours.

So there you go. It may indeed give you the musical challenge you want; just make sure it's not giving you more gray hairs than it's worth.

/a

[pk_hat]

I've been doing it for almost 2 years. I learned a lot about the biz (as in "music for advertising", not the music biz as we know it), made some money and now I'm looking at starting my own company. First thing, be ready to swallow your creative pride (most of the time). Learn to listen to what the client needs without jumping in with a "oh, but I think this works better", that will lose you the gig at the snap of a finger. If they ask for your opinion, speak. Otherwise, deliver what it is they ask for.

How do you break in is the million dollar question.
One word: relationships.

Yes, there's also the usual - talent, personality, mystique, blah, blah, blah, but they really all gravitate around the first step, which is meeting the right people. Ok, so once you meet the 'right people' (= agency producers, creative directors, music houses, etc.), you need to show confidence in your abilities as a composer. Have a demo ready, whether it's your own music, some work-to-picture if you have any, little :30 sec audio clips, etc. Show what you can do.

A common practice is to download other commercials on the internet and re-score them, particularily those without dialogue (as it's embedded with the 'music' part, if you leave it out, the ad fails regardless of how cool your music is). Of course, you don't tell them you scored the actual commercial which aired, you put a disclaimer that this is for "presentation only", in other words, you simply did it to put together a reel.

Make a DVD of it all with a nice cover (not too loud or busy) and always have one on you (again, a good audio cd will do, too). Get a directory of the agencies and music houses in your area (there are quite a few in Chicago), make a simple press kit and go door-to-door if you have to.

One thing....if you show up at a music house with your intentions, you may not see "the one in charge" on you first visit, but don't despair, as the receptionist will always take your reel/demo and tell you she will pass it on. Most of the time, it does get in the right hands, at which point it's a simple question of whether or not they can use your talents as a freelancer. If your timing is right, you can end up as a staff composer "in-house". You're on salary (depends on the place) and you submit demos for the jobs that come in. Depending on seniority and previously won gigs, you could end up getting paid a "demo fee" for each submission that is approved for presentation to the client. That can be aywhere from $100 to $500.

If you win a job, there's no absolute fee, it all depends on the job, the client, the budget, union/non-union, etc. My first won commercial paid me in the neighborhood of $2500 with residuals (which I'm still collecting every 13 weeks, almost a year later). Other jobs can pay as little as $1000 with nothing on the back end. Each job/campaign has it's own DNA, so to speak...

Anyway, bottom line is, it's not much different than trying to get signed to a label. Get some work together, present it as nice you can, be personable and show eagerness to learn, enthusiasm and most importantly, meet people and network yourself. One more thing, the more musically versatile you are, the better. If a call comes in asking you if you want to submit a demo for a particular job, but there is no "demo fee", you say yes and you get to work. That's the doorbell right there...

Bottom line: no contacts = no getting in this biz, no matter how good you are.

Here's an interesting site with a 'music house' directory.

www.ampnow.com

There's also a book by Jeffrey P. Fisher "How to make money scoring jingles and soundtracks". It's good, it covers a lot of administrative ground if you plan on going in as a freelancer, how to read contracts, how to reach the right people, etc...The one I have is a bit dated (1999), there may be a newer edition by now.

Good luck.

[chrispnyc]

Wow, thanks for the info!

pk - that was really detailed and informed - I greatly appreciate that. I am going to try dedicating one of month of my personal creative time to creating a sonic resume following the advice you gave (re-recording commercials, snippets of various kinds of audio, etc.). Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to post back some positive news - if not, it's still a good exercise.

Thanks again
Chris

[Eddie K. wannabe]

PK always knows what up. He's an asset to this forum.


I used to be an assistant for Eddie Heidenriech at the ElectricLounge in Chicago. He does a lot of regional radio comercials. It seemed to me that the way he got work was having connections with ad agencies. Basicaly he'd have a contact from an ageny, he'd call them ask them what they were working on they'd say "bob watson wants a hot new spot, for a sale or something" so Eddie would write a jingle with that info in mind,and if they liked it, he'd work out payment. Sometimes he was kind of competeing with other composers to get a certain spot. I'd say to find out what ad agencies are out there, and try to make a contact, see what they are working on and if they'd like a sample of your talents.


Hope this helps