Have you ever thought about how jingles are actually paid for? It’s not like anyone ever questioned that they deserve to be paid for their work, but how do they actually get paid? Most people aren’t aware of the fact that there’s an entire industry that supports jingles. When you’re writing a jingle for a brand, you’ll typically find a brand manager who’ll listen to your script and give you feedback on how to make it better. Then once you’ve finished polishing it, they’ll negotiate a contract with you that includes a financial commitment, a review of the final product, and a clause that states that either you or the brand can terminate the contract any time after the review. Believe it or not, this is how most jingles get written. Keep reading for more information about the industry and how jingles work.
The Industry Behind Jingles
Jingles are one of the most recognizable assets of a brand. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a consumer unaware of the fact that catchy jingles exist, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of jingles before. Most people know what they are and how they work, but how exactly do they work?
The short answer is that jingles are written either by professional writers or freelance writers who happen to be skilled at songwriting. It’s quite common for brands to outsource their jingle work to agencies that specialize in written jingles. Agencies that write jingles for brands typically work on a commission basis. So if you’re wondering how much you’ll be paid to write a jingle, ask the agency what their standard rate is and multiply it by how many pitches they have on hand. That’s your basic payment for jingle work.
How Do You Decide What Song To Use For A Jingle?
As mentioned before, the most common and arguably the most recognizable jingle types are the singing and instrumental ones. If your agency or brand manager is familiar with the work of McCann Erickson International, they might tell you that most jingles are built around one of their popular songs. So if you’re looking for inspiration, you could start your search in their song library. Once you’ve found the perfect song, the process of writing a jingle begins. You’ll need to work with your agency’s songwriter to make any necessary modifications to the original track so that it fits your brand’s message. Then you’ll have to write lyrics for the song and polish the whole shebang until it sounds great. In the end, you’ll have a professional-sounding jingle to use.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of what makes up a jingle. There are tons of other elements that could be included in a jingle, such as sound effects, pitch correction, and additional lyrics. These elements can vary from subtle to highly technical and require specialized knowledge to be incorporated effectively into a jingle.
The Different Stages Of A Jingle’s Life
As mentioned before, jingles are a living creature and they evolve just like any other piece of written or recorded music. Just like with any other piece of art or literature, there are various stages that a jingle could go through during its life cycle. Most jingles are born when a brand or agency come up with an idea for a campaign or ad and they think that a jingle could be the vehicle to get their message across.
This is the stage at which a jingle is at its most embryonic and raw form. It could include some rough vocals or just a bit of instrumentation composed of mainly electric guitar. As mentioned before, the main purpose of this stage is to spark ideas for a brand or agency and serve as a building block for further development. This is also the stage at which brands or agencies tend to be the most open to new ideas and willing to give feedback. Once this feedback stage is over, the jingle often goes through a detailed editing phase where everything from the lyrics to the music is polished and improved upon.
Once this editing stage is done, the jingle is often handed over to a professional vocalist who will record a demo of the sound track. This demo is then reviewed by the agency or brand manager to ensure that it matches the final product that will be used in the campaign or ad. After this final review stage, the jingle is considered to be finished and the process ends with the agency or brand paying the writer for their work.
As you might imagine, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jingles out there. This is one of the reasons why brands and agencies tend to be guarded about what songs they choose for their jingles. They don’t want others to take their songs and use them in a competing campaign. This industry is highly competitive and that’s why most brands work with agencies that specialize in written jingles. If you’re interested in being a songwriter for hire, check out this awesome new website that matches writers with brands looking for songs:
How Are You Paid To Write A Jingle?
This may come as a bit of a shock to learn that brands don’t typically pay songwriters to write jingles. In fact, most writers and agencies that create written jingles for brands expect to be paid either by the word or by the line. This is something that was established many years ago when the only way to get a commercial jingle was to write one yourself or hire a professional to do it for you. Nowadays, this is often done on a commission basis. So how do you get paid to write a jingle?
The industry has changed a lot in the past few years and we’ve now established separate tracks for jingles, animations, and voiceovers. The former two are often done together while voiceovers are more frequently done separately. If you’re interested in getting paid to write jingles or animations, look for gigs on sites like Upwork or Freelancer.com.
What Is The Audience For Jingles?
Brands and agencies that create written jingles for commercial purposes tend to target affluent audiences. This is mainly because these are the audiences that buy the most expensive items and have the most money to spend on advertising. If you’re looking to write jingles for fun or as a means of earning a living, try contacting marketing agencies that work with various brands. These agencies often have clients that are looking for catchy jingles and they sometimes work on a freelance basis.
If you’re wondering where all the money from these recordings goes, it typically ends up in expensive-looking jingles blogs, lyric websites, and in the pockets of the band members of the artists who were lucky enough to have their music used in the first place. Of course, the money also helps to create more opportunity in the form of better sounding music and higher quality recording equipment.
What Are You Looking For In A Jingle?
As mentioned before, brands and agencies that create written jingles for commercial purposes tend to target affluent audiences. So if you’re looking for a specific audience, it’s probably a good idea to avoid jingles altogether. However, that’s not always the case and sometimes you might want to write a jingle for a more general audience. If that’s the case, keep the following in mind:
• The ideal word count for a jingle is between two and four minutes. Anything longer than that and it tends to become difficult to follow along and understand what is being said. Most jingles are built on a verse-chorus format where the first and second verse are generally shorter while the chorus is usually longer. Going over four minutes would require a complete rewrite of the song.
• The main purpose of a jingle is to be catchy. This means that your goal should be to write a song that is memorable and easily understood by everyone who hears it. If you follow these guidelines, you’ll be able to write a jingle that will stick in the heads of your listeners for days, if not weeks or months later. This is the entire purpose of a jingle. So whenever you’re asked to write one, just remember this. It might not be for you if you’re looking for a specific audience or if you need to have the finished product within a certain time frame.