Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials (And More): A

ZAGER MUSIC • ADVERTISING WRITING MUSIC FOR WRITING MUSIC Praise for the fi rst edition: “A welcome guide for anyone wishing to make their career in the competitive world of commercial composing. It covers pretty much everything that you need to know—from the expectations of advertising agencies to the compositional techniques employed . a must TELEVISION AND RADIO for anyone angling for that new cream-cheese contract.” —MUSO magazine “Those interested in pursuing careers in this area of the music business will do well to review the fi nal few chapters that traverse the (AND MORE) FOR COMMERCIALS areas of composing for radio, corporate videos, and the general business of advertising.” —Film Score Monthly A MANUAL FOR COMPOSERS AND STUDENTS Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials (and More): A Manual for Composers and Students succinctly describes the process TELEVISION of composing and arranging commercials for these two very different media. This new, expanded edition provides a comprehensive overview of the commercial music business while addressing the tools of composition and arranging and giving helpful instruction for jingle writing and composing for commercials. Michael Zager offers methods for analyzing commercials from a musical point of view, properly arranging instruments for the desired sound, and correctly scoring for each instrument. He often provides interviews with AND professionals in the fi eld to corroborate his information, and the chapters conclude with assignments for practice. RADIO This second edition is rewritten and reformatted to increase readability and use in the classroom and includes new chapters on theatrical trailers, video games, Internet commercials, website music, and made-for-Internet videos. An included audio CD contains examples referenced in the book. This book is a necessary tool for music students interested in the commercial and advertising business but is COMMERCIALS also useful for composers studying fi lm scoring, advertising writers, art directors, and music producers. MICHAEL ZAGER is the Dorothy F. Schmidt Eminent Scholar in Performing Arts and professor of music and director of commercial music at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of Music Production: A Manual for Producers, Composers, Arrangers, and Students (Scarecrow Press, 2006). ( AND MORE For orders and information please contact the publisher Scarecrow Press, Inc. ) A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishing Group, Inc. nclud 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 I e SECOND EDITION D d C Lanham, Maryland 20706 ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6139-8 1-800-462-6420 ISBN-10: 0-8108-6139-9 fax 717-794-3803 www.scarecrowpress.com Cover design by Neil D. Cotterill MICHAEL ZAGER WritingMusicMECH.indd 1 6/24/08 12:16:46 PM WRITING MUSIC FOR TELEVISION AND RADIO COMMERCIALS (and More) A Manual for Composers and Students 2nd Edition Michael Zager The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2008 SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright ᭧ 2008 by Michael Zager All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zager, Michael. Writing music for television and radio commercials (and more) : a manual for composers and students / Michael Zager.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6139-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8108-6139-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) eISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6219-7 eISBN-10: 0-8108-6219-0 1. Music in advertising—Instruction and study. 2. Television advertising. 3. Radio advertising. I. Title. MT67.Z34 2008 781.5Ј413—dc22 2008009184 ⅜ϱ ீThe paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. To my wife, Jane; our children, Jonathan, Allison, Stephen, and Nicholas; our grandchildren, Jack and Lily; and my mother, Frances. Thank you for your love, support, and patience. Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1 Advertising Agency and Process Structure 1 2 Composing for Television and Radio Commercials versus Composing for Films 21 3 Musical Skills (Approaching Composition for Commercials) 25 4 Analyzing Commercials (From a Musical Viewpoint) 57 5 Underscoring (Compositional Techniques) 65 6 Arranging and Orchestration Concepts (Including Sound Effects and Sound Design) 85 7 Jingle Writing 145 8 Composing Music for Radio Commercials 165 9 Corporate Videos and Infomercials (Long-Form Commercials) 171 10 Theatrical Trailer Music (Motion Picture Trailer Music) 181 11 Video Game Music 189 12 Internet Commercials, Website Music, and Made-for-the- Internet Video Programs 211 13 The Business of Commercials 215 14 Conclusion 243 Index 245 About the Author 257 v Preface This second edition of Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials (and More) is intended to be an overview of the creative process of composing music for commercials and other related compositional genres. (Sepa- rate books could be written about several of the subjects covered.) The tools of composition and arranging and how to approach and analyze creative situations can be taught, but talent cannot be taught. Applying the analytical and creative methods suggested in this book will assist composers in achieving their creative goals. When interacting with advertising agencies, composers are immersed in a surreal mixture of music and business. The goal of advertising agencies is to please clients by creating viable and successful advertising campaigns, which helps to sell products or to create images for their products and/or their overall brand(s). It is a composer’s job to compose music that best suits commercials, not to necessar- ily write music that satisfies him or her personally. The ideal solution is to compose music that satisfies both the creative needs of composers and the business objectives of agencies and their clients. To gain the most from this book, it is advisable but not necessary to have a basic knowledge of theory, harmony, and orchestration. Many successful jingle writers lack a formal music education. It is unusual for composers who specialize in traditional underscoring (background music) not to have a formal music education. The book will also be helpful to students interested in film scoring. Composing commercials is a unique craft and should be studied as a separate discipline. Advertising writers, art directors, and music producers can also read sections of this book to under- stand the creative process from a composer’s viewpoint. Please note that the CD included with the book contains examples of various musical genres and sound effects discussed in the text. When a CD track applies directly to the subject matter, you will be directed to listen to a specific track. vii Acknowledgments Without the mentoring, teaching, and friendship of David Tcimpidis of the Mannes College of Music, a division of New School University, this book would not have been written. Thank you for making my dream of becom- ing an educator a reality. I would like to thank my friends whose knowledge and expertise con- tributed to the information contained in this book. Robert Rainier—thank you for your guidance and for sharing your vast knowledge of music book publishing. Thanks also to my colleagues and business associates Alfred Brown, Patricia Fleitas, Fookloy Ford, Stuart Glazer, Marshall Grantham, Cissy Houston, Joel Harrison, Dale Johnson, Lisa Kalb, Christopher Len- nertz, Mark Mayhew, Arthur Meranus, Raul Murciano, Dennis Powers, John Russo, Steve Schnur, Kevin Teasley, Jack Wall, and Alejandro San- chez-Samper. I would like to thank my publisher, Scarecrow Press, and my editors, Kellie Hagan and Reneé Camus. ix Introduction A study by the Harvard Business Review concluded that people remember 20 percent of what they hear and 30 percent of what they hear and see. While the process of composing involves numerous steps and skills, the Throughout the dec- composer’s goal is to elicit an emotional ades, music has always held response from the audience. Therefore, a special place among the when composing music for television and arts because of the emo- radio commercials, composers must focus tional response it creates. on receiving the proper reaction from the Various cultures have audience. Sometimes the reaction to the banned music and thought score is subliminal; however, without of it as evil. People have music, some commercials might not be as been jailed for listening to effective. The composer’s objective should and playing unacceptable be to achieve the reaction that the creative music; instruments have team (writer, art director, and producer) been burned. Songs have wants to elicit. The music must enhance always reflected the atti- the scenes and add ‘‘feeling’’ to the mes- tudes and mores of society. sages behind the concept of the commer- In Plato’s Republic, Soc- cials. The music must help ‘‘tell the story.’’ rates wanted to ban the mu- It is the emotional reaction of hearing sical modes (specific scales) music that creates a lasting impression. ‘‘because more than any- For example, a song on the radio usually thing else rhythm and har- triggers a memory of an event or time mony find their way to the period in the listener’s life. In the film inmost soul and take stron- Jaws, the two-note bass theme played gest hold upon it, bringing when the shark was near a potential vic- with them an imparting tim created an anticipation of danger.

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