Jingle All The Way

Music contractors usually hire the best players available for a recording session (jingle). The session may be music that is very elementary or it might be quite demanding. To be on the safe side they go with the best players they can hire.

Their thinking is that because these musicians are experts it shouldn't cost as much to record. It shouldn't take as long to lay down a track when the guys are very skilful. This strategy sounds reasonable enough however, there can be some extenuating considerations.

Jingles are marketing vehicles for a company or a product and the commercial (jingle) gets a lot of exposure even though they are only seconds long. The client wants the best sound possible so the best players are usually contracted.

Sometimes these jingles are just short snippets but still the client wants them to communicate successfully as a marketing vehicle for his product.

These commercials (jingles) are played many times during the day to advertise that particular product. Factor in that each time the jingle is played and viewed on a Network (e.g. NBC has over 230 affiliates) that means a lot of exposure per viewing. (Multiply each initial view by 230.)

Generally the musician is paid for a two or three hour recording session and the client pays for a "buy out" which is perhaps 5 to 6 plays.

However, "buy outs" are in the clients favour and even though they have to pay up front for a few viewings it still it better than paying for each view if it's going to be shown on a Network.

I know of one musician Jack Eagle (a trumpet player) in New York that was Brother Dominic for Xerox. (Some years ago, Jack came to London and performed at the Iroquois Hotel with his sidekick Johnny Mann.  The comedy act was called Eagle and Mann.)  

Jack looked the part because of his short appealing profile.  In this case Jack walked into a very lucrative contract.  

I figure he made over 250 thousand dollars a year for this special commercial and it ran for over 5 years.  He even became a spoken for that company in sales events. It should be mentioned that his services were for his acting skills (his appearance) rather than his musical expertise.

A Toronto musician friend of mine was on a recording session and the jingle was just a simple ditty about 28 seconds long.   The guys (8 musicians) nailed it the first time what appeared to be a flawless take.   They took a couple more tracks just in case.   These takes went splendidly as well.  These guys were considered the best musicians in the business and the product was going to be first rate.

Finally the contractor (one of the musicians (a recording artist in his own right) turned to the ensemble and asked, (no doubt he was expecting to make a good buck on this session as he knew the client.)

"Hey guys, we're doing this for MacDonalds. What are you thinking? What are you doing?  These guys (MacDonalds) have deep pockets.   We can be here all afternoon and they still won't complain about the fees.  And besides I was expecting to make a good dollar for this project."

After that bit of advice (insight) it was up to each individual musician to insert a small glitch here and there to extend the recording session. You could only make more money by stretching the session other wise you would be paid the minimum.

It might have been for MacDonalds (“fast food”) but when it comes to recording..."fast" is not money you can retire on. 

Professional musicians are rarely astute when it comes to business.

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