# How do you become a jingle man?



## bleupalmtree (Jun 21, 2022)

Like those ads from Mercedes-Benz or the music you hear in luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Cartier or any other advertisement that gets played before a video stars on Youtube? Where do they get their music from? Do they hire someone or do they go through music libraries and if so then which ones? How does someone get started in writing jingles for commercials/ads? How long does the music usually have to be? What's the pay/residuals like?

And also what's the job title for someone who does that kind of work? It can't be jingle man lol

Thank you for your time


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## NekujaK (Jun 22, 2022)

I do know that music for ads is frequently licensed - either pop songs or library music.

If a dedicated jingle is needed, an ad agency will hire a composer/songwriter, but I don't have any insight into exactly how that happens. I'm sure others on this forum will...


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## Cyberic (Jun 22, 2022)

Jingle man? Almost. They’re called jingle writers and are normally commissioned by ad agencies who produce broadcast adverts. As with many aspects of music and music related endeavours, knowing and getting on with people is paramount.

I’ve worked with jingle writers in the UK and some were existing songwriters, even well-known ones, but for anyone attempting jingles a demo reel is necessary. Going ‘round agencies and playing what you’ve done is the key to getting work. Personality and establishing a rapport hugely important. 

Sometimes agencies are happy to hear demos of songs. However as the previous poster says, others on the forum may be able to expand a lot more.

BTW, it’s a bit lame and oriented towards amateurs but this post by Indeed (a recruitment company) offers a few guidelines: Finding a job as a jingle writer


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## davidson (Jun 22, 2022)

I didn't read your full question but what I do is keep a few loose coins in my pockets and bounce when I walk. I hope that helps.


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## Harzmusic (Jun 22, 2022)

bleupalmtree said:


> How does someone get started in writing jingles for commercials/ads? How long does the music usually have to be? What's the pay/residuals like?


I've only done a few ads, but know some people who have done a lot of them.
Like with most things in this profession the work usually starts with a good contact - someone you know, or someone that reaches out to you because of a recommendation. Some agencies have in-house composers, some have go-to freelancers and some let the directors pick their team. I know a couple of composers who have good relationships with two or three advertising directors and live very comfortably with that.
It seems to function more like a business than an art, so cold-calling agencies may be a viable strategy.

For large ads there can be pitches, where a selection of composers are invited to submit their take and agency and client pick a winner. There can be a pitching fee for this, but it rarely covers the time spent on the pitch (at least on the ones I did).
So if I were to go the advertising route, I'd expect to be pitching a lot and lose *a lot* of pitches. That being said, if you *do* win a pitch, the pay can be phenomenal. With the right agent and the right client you can walk out of there five figures richer for a 60 second spot. That's at the top of the industry though, don't expect that from every spot. And you will have spent a lot of time on those 60 seconds of music, and even more time working on other 60 seconds unpaid. It's kind of a winner takes all situation. If you are on a roll, you buy a house, if you are on a losing spree, you buy a pack of toast.

Generally there are different standard formats for ads, and in a campaign there are also often multiple versions of the same spot. Very rarely will you need to deliver a cue that is longer than two minutes. 60s or 90s are common for the longest spot in a campaign. The pre-roll ads on youtube you mention may be shorter 5s to 15s versions of a 60s spot crafted by a composer or music editor.

Oh. And you get very little time. The deadlines are brutal.

That's from my limited experience and hearsay, curious to hear if others see it the same way.

PS: There is a difference between music for advertising and corporate identity, signets and audio logos. Most of what I describe is not "jingles", but actually scoring ads to picture.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 22, 2022)

Try jingle houses, place like Amber Music, Finger Music or MCasso. Type jingle houses or music production companies and the city of your choice (I did London) into google and introduce yourself to them. If you have demos, they will listen and perhaps ask to keep them in their files as offerings to agencies if the need arises. You may be invited to demo on an ad soon enough with any luck.

@Harzmusic is correct, be prepared for many disappointments. I once pitched on an ad that had over 100 demos. I got the job, only to be ousted by a record label who threw in a well known song at the last hurdle. Be also prepared for duplicitous producers in agencies who will play a few jingle houses off against one another to get free revisions on demos by telling them they have the job.
BTW I did plenty of work for Mercedes and loved them as they always had great briefs and big budgets for live players.


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## bleupalmtree (Jun 22, 2022)

mikeh-375 said:


> Try jingle houses, place like Amber Music, Finger Music or MCasso. Type jingle houses or music production companies and the city of your choice (I did London) into google and introduce yourself to them. If you have demos, they will listen and perhaps ask to keep them in their files as offerings to agencies if the need arises. You may be invited to demo on an ad soon enough with any luck.
> 
> @Harzmusic is correct, be prepared for many disappointments. I once pitched on an ad that had over 100 demos. I got the job, only to be ousted by a record label who threw in a well known song at the last hurdle. Be also prepared for duplicitous producers in agencies who will play a few jingle houses off against one another to get free revisions on demos by telling them they have the job.
> BTW I did plenty of work for Mercedes and loved them as they always had great briefs and big budgets for live players.


That is awesome info! Wow thank you so much. Ever since I saw that Christmas ad for Mercedes in December 2021. The music brings me a feeling of joy and happiness. Love the glockenspiel in that one.

So cool you did work for Mercedes. That is awesome to hear!
I'll check out the jingle houses you mentioned and. I really appreciate the time you took to answer my questions.

Again, thank you!


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## bleupalmtree (Jun 22, 2022)

Harzmusic said:


> It seems to function more like a business than an art, so cold-calling agencies may be a viable strategy.
> 
> For large ads there can be pitches, where a selection of composers are invited to submit their take and agency and client pick a winner. There can be a pitching fee for this, but it rarely covers the time spent on the pitch (at least on the ones I did).
> So if I were to go the advertising route, I'd expect to be pitching a lot and lose *a lot* of pitches. That being said, if you *do* win a pitch, the pay can be phenomenal. With the right agent and the right client you can walk out of there five figures richer for a 60 second spot. That's at the top of the industry though, don't expect that from every spot. And you will have spent a lot of time on those 60 seconds of music, and even more time working on other 60 seconds unpaid. It's kind of a winner takes all situation. If you are on a roll, you buy a house, if you are on a losing spree, you buy a pack of toast.
> ...


Is it good to have a business name whether you're scoring ads to picture, writing jingles? A business name to help identify oneself (other than your name) that you would use on Instagram, youtube, google, twitter, tiktok, facebook business or music libraries? 

Okay, that makes sense. So 60 second or more that are just cut into 5, 15 second versions on pre-roll ads on youtube. Nice. I would've never known that. That's why I love vi-control, you get so much info, insight from good, talented people like you. Thank you for that info 

Large ads to pitch? I can only dream lol... that sounds real cool. I don't mind taking many losses if it brings me to one win.

It feels like I'm forgetting something to ask but if I remember in the afternoon I can ask you fine people back on this thread. Always up late at night. Just a hot summer Cali night, gonna grab me an ice cream, chill, watch some tv and crash... Many thank yous


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 22, 2022)

^^^remember though, there are no guarantees whatsoever. The industry is ridiculously over saturated and as a result underpaid in many cases so you'll need to schmooze quite a bit.


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## bleupalmtree (Jun 22, 2022)

mikeh-375 said:


> ^^^remember though, there are no guarantees whatsoever. The industry is ridiculously over saturated and as a result underpaid in many cases so you'll need to schmooze quite a bit.


Schmooze I will. I understand there's no guarantee. But I'll try.


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## SchnookyPants (Jun 23, 2022)

_ahhhhhh..._

To schmooze, or not to schmooze...

For me, there's really no question. I _hate_ to schmooze. And if you don't believe me, look where I haven't gotten.


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## Arbee (Jun 24, 2022)

My path into jingles was via a studio owner recommemdation. I was starting to be hired frequently on keys and guitars in his studio and he recommended a client try me out to write a jeans jingle. Luckily it became a very popular ad and I was in. Most clients were great, some were arses, and I worked more than a few 24 hour days over five years before deciding to pursue other professional music avenues. 

A word of caution, if all you write is jingles it's really easy to lose the ability to develop an idea and to get in a creative rut writing just short hooky diatonic phrases. Took me years to escape that habit but ymmv.


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## wst3 (Jun 27, 2022)

I made some headway into local advertising, which led to corporate logos and eventually a jingle.

Radio stations started offering to use commercial hits under advertisements, and that was free, and everyone loves free, even if it means they are not building identity. Thus ended that segment of my career.

If I were going to try again I'd start by befriending program directors at local radio and TV stations. I'd offer to pitch musical ideas for local advertisers. I'd have a demo reel where I added music to existing advertisements (radio or TV). And I'd settle in for a long haul.

I would also pitch to local businesses that are known to advertise on local radio and TV.

If I had any success with either of those I would then start to pitch to local ad agencies. This time my demo reel would include actual ads that I had scored.

Once I was successful writing underscores for ads I would work with the agencies to help their clients understand the value of a jingle. I'd show up with a handful of generic examples.

If you are a killer sales person you could go directly to the advertisers themselves. In my limited experience they are a much harder sell.

Somewhere along the way I'd probably start pitching station IDs to local broadcasters, just because I love them. Most station IDs are so firmly entrenched that changing them would damage the identity they built. But dang, it would be fun!

-- some background --
Jingles are meant to be used repetitively to build identity - think Coke, Nationwide, the Army, MacDonalds, Chilis, Oscar Meyer, Alka Seltzer - this list is long (these are just the first that popped into my head). This is a really tough business to break into, it is owned by a handful of "jingle houses". BUT, if you can find a local business (they are getting rarer) you may be able to work with their agency to write a jingle for them. My one and only jingle was the result of me singing an idea for a friend who worked at an ad agency. We were sitting at the bar, and I'm pretty sure the number of margaritas he consumed had something to do with me getting my foot in the door, but after that they did like the jingle.

Logos are also used repetitively to build identity. They are short little ditties that are instantly recognizable (when they work). Think about the sound of a Windows machine booting up, or the music played under a station ID. If you work in a big corporation you have probably heard the corporate jingle at large meetings.

There is one more category, my favorite, and that is radio station IDs. These are sort of a combination of a jingle and a logo, the goal remains the same - build identity. They also serve to preserve the "flow" - something that was once thought to be critical for a successful radio show. The radio jingle business is centered in Dallas TX, and a lot of other jingle work happens there as well. Jam Jingles was the king of the hill when I was in radio, not sure about now.

Since we live all over the world it would be difficult to name examples, and sadly they are not being used nearly as often as they were 30 (or more) years ago.

All of these require a great deal of work, and a great deal of luck, and knowing the right people. I got my break by working as a broadcast engineer and studio maintenance guy. I never made it out of the local market. But I had a ton of fun, and I made a couple bucks.

The last form of marketing music is just that, an underscore for an advertisement. They don't generally provide identity, and they are seldom reused since they are (again generally) written for a specific video. The good news is that the advertiser will therefore need more of them.

-- Footnote --
There are fans that collect jingles and jingle demos, and an awful lot of them end up on Youtube, if you search for Jam Jingles you will find some really cool audio demos and videos.

Start at their home page
Here is a page of "classic" Jingles
Jingles.com is another great resource
Since I grew up in Philly, and used to work with their chief engineer I like this VIDEO.
Behind the scenes for one of their more famous jingles
When I was in college we received Station ID demo reels, my favorite is from WLS
Here is a tape from 1978
Here's one from 1979
And if you have 45 minutes, here is an interview with one of the principles at JAM Productions.


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## Mike Greene (Jun 27, 2022)

wst3 said:


> I would also pitch to local businesses that are known to advertise on local radio and TV.


I like all of Bill's advice here, but this line in particular seems like a good way to start. In fact, I'd go a step further and create some jingles on specs for local advertisers, without them asking. Then present that jingle to them and hope they maybe try it on air. This is a long-odds business, so although you'll get a lot of _"No thanks, kid"_ responses, it's worth a shot.

FWIW years ago I had an idea of creating a zillion of these spec demos all at once. I'd create a few tracks, then look up the names of various businesses across the country, and do marathon sessions with the singers, plugging all their company names into the jingles. Like so many of my "brilliant ideas," though, I never followed through with it, but I've often thought it could work.

In fact, local news themes are usually exactly this, where there's a company (I can't remember the name) who supplies the themes to almost everybody. Radio IDs used to be this way, too, where companies came up with a few short melodies, then hire singers (usually a group in harmony) to sing the call letters for hundreds of stations to those melodies.


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## bleupalmtree (Jul 2, 2022)

Now I'm just debating if I should go with Logic Pro or Cubase.
I'm on a macbook pro
Not sure what to do...


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## JJP (Jul 2, 2022)

How does one become a jingle man? First, you buy a tambourine…


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## GtrString (Jul 3, 2022)

10 step 2022 show-don't-tell recipé for jingle man identity make-over:

Start by NOT being a jingle man, with a burning desire to become the jingle, tingle of corporate hearts..

Take the top 10 pop hits on Billboard NOW
Listen to what type of sounds they use (Xfer Serum and Col Legno articulations needed)
Do a variety of 30sec jingles with the sounds you analyzed
Keep it within the borders of minimalism and percussion (do donut mix = hole in the middle freQ)
Create 30sec videos for your jingles (fit the video to the jingle, not the opposite)
Create a social account specific for ur purpose
Follow those jingle houses, and engage
Post your jingle videos and your reels, build engagement
THEN call/DM them
Forget, repeat, submit

BAM, u'r transformed into a jingle man - next step, be thE jingle man! 

Finish complete transformation process by hiring a secretary to buy appropriate suits, handle the hate mail, set up wall-to-wall business meetings and eventually run ur socials..


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## bleupalmtree (Jul 3, 2022)

GtrString said:


> 10 step 2022 show-don't-tell recipé for jingle man identity make-over:
> 
> Take the top 10 pop hits on Billboard NOW
> Listen to what type of sounds they use (Xfer Serum and Col Legno articulations needed)
> ...


For now on I want to be addressed as "jingle man."
Like that guy from Seinfeld who wanted to be refer as maestro.

I am Jingle Man!

And the Jingle Man thanks you for your tips


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## JJP (Jul 3, 2022)

GtrString said:


> BAM, u'r transformed into a jingle man - next step, be thE jingle man!


As a jingle person, you’ll be given the opportunity to write demo pitches with multiple versions for $250.


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## patrick76 (Jul 3, 2022)

The trick is, to go back in time to the late 80’s into the early 90’s. You could make a pretty nice living back then. I knew a guy with a beautiful house with a real studio in his basement and he just did those cheesy 80’s rock vocals for jingles. He made some real money.


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