If you’ve ever heard music in a commercial, and said to yourself, “I can do better than that!” then, here is your chance to get into the lucrative career of being a jingle writer.
A Jingle Writer Defined
Someone who is a lyricist, composer, songwriter that writes music for radio and television commercials. They have to be skilled in all styles of music, must be an expert who can compose in the shortest times possible.Someone hires them and they must compose the song exactly as their client wishes them to. That means, you really have no room to show off your artistic skills. The client decides how long the piece will be, the deadline and may even tell you what lyrics they want in the jingle. The job of a jingle writer is to solve the problem of their client.
Time
Jingles on television are usually 10, 15, or 30 seconds long. Radio jingles are 30-60 seconds long.Some jingles will include an instrumental for a voice-over, or it could be a mixture of singing and a voice-over part.
Job Outlook
Modern technology has saved advertisers a lot of money, by shortening the air time that a jingle gets. A while ago, when you sold a jingle, it stayed on air longer. Today advertisers change their campaign a lot, so the amount of time a jingle is used is about 13 to over 20 weeks, or less if the jingle is only used for a particular season on radio and television.
On a positive note, because of technology, creating jingles are done much faster, and it is more simple. In the beginning, there were just a few people making a lot of money, now there is much more competition. If you want to be a jingle writer, expect to work for hours including your weekends.
Just because you write a jingle, doesn’t mean that it will get sold. You also can sell something and the agency won’t pay you. There is no organization that supports jingle writers.
The Money
Your pay is determined by what your assignment is. Obviously, if it is a small project, you won’t earn much. It all depends on what the client is willing to spend. Jingle writers can charge demo fees from $500 to $1,500. These fees include studio, equipment, musicians, and vocalists. Yeah, this really doesn’t cover the entire expense of producing the demo, so many jingle writers convince the musicians to work for less. If a jingle writer doesn’t get the job, he gets nothing in return.
Jingle writers who get the job are paid around $7,500 to $10,000 for the creative work, and $2,000 to $3,000 for the arranging work. There is no other payment unless the jingle writer becomes the musician and performs in their own jingles. You can freelance, have your own production company, or affiliate yourself with a music company, or jingle company. Annual salaries are hard to determine, but if you can get a hit the money is incredibly well. A person who starts their own production company and are very successful can make a million dollars. Six-figure incomes are also quite standard. If you are not successful, you won’t be able to make a living at it.
How To Be A Successful Jingle Writer
The only way to be a successful jingle writer without working too hard at it, is to find a talent agency to represent you. When you have an agent, that agent will help you find the work that you are looking for. Chances are, if it is a popular agency, your jingles will be something you’ll be quite proud of to have on your resume. Here are a few good talent agencies. Good luck!
Creative Artists Agency
www.caa.com
I Am
www.iam.com
My Fame
www.myfame.com
William Morris Agency
www.wma.com
Noma Music
www.nomamusic.com
