Creative Mills Productions

The sky is falling, or so it seems. Should we simply duck and cover and hope not to become a casualty? If you’re a business owner, do you just close up shop and wait for some good news? Of course not. As long as you fill a need you can keep moving forward, but you’ve got to get the word out. Never stop. Get in the ears of your potential clients with consistent, high quality TV and radio advertising. There’s no mistaking, consistency is the key, and often, a catchy jingle can make your message really stick. Yes, a jingle. Though in the past, advertisers had been willing to spend tens of thousands on licensing fees for familiar pop songs hoping to sell you down memory lane, who really has that kind of money. . . anymore? The tide is now turning - to original jingles. So, no matter what the talking heads say, don’t freak out. You’re still in control of branding your business.

Our family has 3 dogs:  Sammy, 17 year old chow mix; Jordan, 8 year old beagle mix; and C.J., 6 year old pure good ‘ole American golden retriever.  I few years back, for some unknown reason, I decided to let the dogs come into our main studio while I was working.  Maybe I felt sorry for them, maybe I thought they would add something to the creative process…or maybe I’m just an idiot.  Actually, I think they did help the creative process.  I remember working on some lyrics for a jingle and hitting a roadblock.  I looked at C.J. and said “now what?”.  Of course, she responded with a not so delicate post treat burp which prompted me to pen the lyrics “….just let it all out”.  Of course, old Sammy “added” to the process by making his mark.  Everyday. In the same spot.  On the same studio carpet.  This went on for months before my wife came in one day, took a deep breath, looked behind the main door, and gagged.  Jordan really did nothing.  She was just happy to be hanging out with her “Pack Leader”.  Well, $1,500 worth of carpet later, the dogs have been officially banned from that studio.  There were tears all around.  And now when I hit a writer’s block, there are no sweet burps to be found.  Who let the dogs out?  Me.   

Ever been wandering around the house….trying to get that annoying melody out of your head?  Yup.  Me too.  It can stick with you for an entire day…or days!  But that’s the point.  One morning, I found myself singing in the shower about a certain local Mexican restaurant chain that shall remain nameless.  My wife and I ate there…that night.  True story.  When done right, jingles trigger emotions that can affect your business’s target audience, meaning more sales for you!  Unfortunately, poorly produced jingles will have no impact on your business at all.  (unless it’s a negative one).  The moral of this little story?  Don’t be cheap when it comes to purchasing your jingle package!  There are a lot of people selling jingles out there for a song and a dance (sorry about the pun), and YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.  But if your jingle melodies and lyrics are catchy….and the music production is big time…you win. 

 

So I had a client approach me the other day and inquire about  producing a jingle for THEIR client.  So far….so good.  Then my client dropped the bomb on me…”We want it to sound exactly like that Outkast song”.  I immediately went into huhminuh-huhminuh-huhminuh mode.  Believe it or not, I‘ve heard small businesses use hit songs re-sung as jingles….and I’m pretty sure they didn’t fork over the $20-75k to purchase the licensing rights.  Here’s the real deal.  It’s okay to produce a jingle “In The Style” of a certain artist or song.  But you simply cannot “re-make” that song for commercial use.  If you do that, you’re opening yourself up to a slew of potential legal problems.  For me, as a musician/composer, there’s also the ethical side.  Somebody put a lot of time and sweat equity into composing and producing that song and that person(s) deserves the royalty payments that come when it’s legally played on the air or purchased.  Copyright Infringement law is there for a reason.  So, when in doubt…play it safe.  But, if you wanna talk about purchasing the licensing rights to a specific song, that’s gonna be a whole ‘nother blog.