A Brief History Of The Jingle
Well, it all started with the famous Christmas carol, “Deck the Halls.” This 1847 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is set to the tune of the classic Christmas carol “Jingle Bells,” and inspired the composer George Antoine Moritz (check out his music here).
“Deck the Halls” was first published in 1847 and is arguably the most popular of all the Christmas poems. It was later included in a collection of poems called “The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow” (Houghton Mifflin, 1879), arguably making it one of the most popular and best-selling poems of all time. As it happens, the last lines of “Deck the Halls” ring out like a call to action: “…let us deck the halls with boughs of holly…” which brings us to today, when the term “jingle” has entered the language, and the popular Christmas carols are all about celebrating the holidays, merrymaking, and getting into the holiday spirit.
The Appeal Of The Jingle
The jingle, or noisy web banner, made its debut in the early days of online marketing and continues to be popular today. Most likely, you’ve either seen or heard of a jingle. It’s basically a short (up to two minutes) musical or vocal introduction to an online marketing video, usually followed by a simple call to action, such as “Click here to learn more,” “Get a free sample,” or “Shop now!” The main purpose of a jingle is to get consumers into a marketing video (usually a music video) and to get them to click, buy, or take some other action.
The rise of artificial intelligence has made it easier for creators to automate the process of coming up with jokes and punchlines. The rise of artificial intelligence has also driven down the price of music production software, making it easier for anyone with a decent microphone and some knowledge of music software to put together a semi-professional jingle. In fact, anyone can become a jingle writer with a little bit of talent and lots of time on their hands.
Who’s Earning Them Cash?
If you’re interested in getting paid to write jingles, the first thing you should do is to look for artists, comedians, and public speakers who are willing to pay for such services. One possible opportunity awaits you if you live in San Francisco. The Dubious Books Festival, which takes place every other year, offers cash prizes for comedic scripts and jingles. One of the festival’s jury members is Jessica Teich, the marketing manager at Merchoid.com. She said the following in an interview with the San Francisco Business Times:
“The main thing is that we’re looking for content that is going to be engaging and memorable. So, we’re really not that picky. We’ll take anything. We just need to make sure that it’s going to entertain our users and bring some value to our platform.”
One of the things that make the Dubious Books Festival so unique is that it doesn’t just offer cash prizes, it also gives the winners the opportunity to have their work published by a professional publisher. In fact, one of the prizes is even worth $10,000 and, for the best of the best, can be worth up to $20,000.
Other than the Dubious Books Festival in San Francisco, the only other place you can find similar opportunities is the New York International Comedy & Entertainment Awards, the UK’s Bitch Media Awards, and the Dublin Comedy Awards. If you’re interested in getting paid to write jingles, these are some of the coolest places to look for work. Don’t expect to make a lot of cash, however. It’s not uncommon for people to write these sorts of skits for fun and if you’re really lucky, you might get some recognition for it. Otherwise, don’t expect to make too much money off these sorts of gigs.
Getting Paid To Write A Comedy Skit
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to make money, you might want to consider looking into writing comedy skits for performance on platforms like Let’s Play. The micropayment platform allows you to get paid for each performance you give, with the average payment being $0.25. You write the skit, record it, and then post it to YouTube. The views on your video determine whether or not you get paid. If your video gets five views, you’ll get $5. If it gets ten views, you’ll get $10. If it gets fifteen views, it will automatically enter you into a drawing for a $20 Amazon Gift Card. You can’t miss out on this one—people are always looking for ways to make extra cash. Plus, you can do this from the comfort of your home.
The Gig Might Not Be For Everyone
Just because you can write down some jokes and come up with some music doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to pull off a successful jingle. A lot of talent is required to turn a humorous anecdote into a snappy one-liner and it takes a lot of practice to be able to write a knock-out punchline. In most cases, you’ll be asked to write a specific number of jingles and will be paid per piece. There are no set deadlines for your gigs, so you can take as long as you need to find the right material. Sometimes you’ll be asked to write a jingle about a current event, like the government shutdown in 2019, for example, and other times you’ll be asked to write a spoof of a famous person or band, like Lady Gaga or Maroon 5.
Before you apply to write for a company like Merchoid, you should have a sense of whether or not this is a job you’re cut out for. Do you have what it takes to come up with clever one-liners? Are you able to write catchy hooks? Can you meet deadlines? Those are some of the main questions you need to ask yourself before you start pursuing this opportunity.
The Many, Many Variations On A Jingle
A jingle doesn’t necessarily have to follow the classic structure outlined above. You can take almost any short story or anecdote and make it into a snappy one-liner. Just remember: the more you put in it, the more you’ll get back. It’s all about finding the right hook for your story. Once you’ve got a great hook, everything else will fall into place. Of course, you don’t want to go overboard and ruin the punchline, so keep a close eye on the meter (or ear, in the case of a singing jingle).
Here’s a short list of some other well-known Christmas carols that were inspired by other poems:
In the Bleak Midwinter
“In the Bleak Midwinter” is a 12th century English lament written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The most famous line from this poem is “…the wolf hath laid waste the wolfish fold, and her cubs thirst after prey” which became the title of a poem by Rudyard Kipling. The two poets were good friends, and it was Kipling who first suggested the name “bleak” for the climate in which the English used to spend most of their time.
Sleigh Ride
“Sleigh Ride,” by Percy Shelley, is named after a common English pastime, whereby two or more people would get inside a large wooden sleigh and be drawn through the snow by a large, white horse. You’d think that riding in a sleigh would be romantic, but apparently not – Shelley wrote this poem while his wife was still living. He blamed his “enforced absence from [his] dwelling” for making him suffer “in [his] loneliness.” So, you might want to ask yourself if this sort of job would make you happy, or are you looking for some way to connect with your sweetheart?