When an ad agency is hired to create a commerical for radio or television, one of its' jobs is to decide what kind of music will be used in the commercial. The ad agency will determine whether or not its' client wants and needs to use an existing song or whether a new song is needed for its' clients campaign. This will depend on the clients budget as well as the nature of the advertising campaign.
If the ad agency does not have an in house music department, The ad agency will then usually hire an existing jingle production company, which specializes in advertising music, to write a song and produce a demo for the advertising campaign the ad agency is working on. Jingle production companies usually have a staff of writers and engineers that are prepared to make custom music that is tailored to the needs of ad campaigns.
How you can get involved
As an independent writer, if you are interested in writing music for ad campaigns you have two different methods of pursuing this type of work. You can either contact existing jingle production companies regarding your talents as a songwriter or you can alternatively contact ad agencies directly and offer your services. Ad agencies typically prefer to work with existing jingle production companies but do sometimes make exceptions and hire independent songwriters to work on ad campaigns.
Some writers with their own recording studios who are interested in this type of work choose to form their own jingle production companies. This typically involves starting by working with companies on a local and regional level and expanding to bigger campaigns as the company grows.
Production companies typically command much larger fees for the music they create based on their experience and wide range of services they offer. For example, a 30-second commercial a production company creates can command anywhere from $5,000 to well over $50,000, depending on whether the commercial is to be aired locally, or is to be used as a part of a national campaign.
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