Like the catchy jingle for the windshield/auto glass repair shop in the town where I work – did the radio station’s ad salesperson also have to write the jingle? And then he or she sent it off to … I dunno, somewhere in Nashville or something … to be recorded? I’m pretty sure there are no recording studios in Salem, Missouri, to say nothing of the lack of musicians and singers to record the song. Or is it all done in-house and locally?
There are recording studios throughout the country, but my guess is that most national ads are produced either in NYC or LA. That’s where the creative people are and that’s where the talent is, but of course we’ve all heard local ads or seen local commercials that were made locally. Most TV and radio stations have the ability to shoot a commercial and/or record a radio ad.
I am hoping @XOldiesJock can chime in here.
I’ve seen & heard different versions of the same ad in other markets. Personal injury lawyers, especially. We have a very catchy one here “two two two twenty two” that I heard different lyrics to the same ad in New Orleans.
The Radio Ranch has a long history (I’m not sure why their website only states it a 30 years: I recall them going back into the 70’s). In the large LA media market and drawing from the talent pool in the entertainment capital. IIRC, one of the founders was George S. Irving, voice of the Rankin-Bass Heat Miser.
Used to be most radio stations had a decent studio to record local commercials onsite. Not sure what they do now with so much programmed air time.
Back in the early 60s, there was a series of songs/jingles entitled “[xxx] my Home Town”, where “xxx” was one of a number of North American cities. Same singer; same background music, with different lyrics for each city. Created by PAMS of Dallas. The local radio station would play it, and record stores would sell it (usually with the radio station’s logo on the record).
Here are 30 that you can listen to:
Back c. 1993 the song “God Bless Texas” was big, and the band recorded the hook for multiple radio markets. So if I were listening to a Springfield station, I’d hear “God Bless Springfield.” If I were listening to a Joplin station, I’d hear “God Bless Joplin.”
You can probably see the problem with this already: viz, it only works with two-syllable cities with the accent on the first. So Denver is in, Duluth is out, and Ypsilanti is way out.
Thanks for your confidence, Crafter Man! “Musical Imaging” (as a Sales Manager once coldly informed me) or “Jingles” (as everyone actually calls them) are produced by ad agencies and production companies all over the country, from New York to LA and all stops in between. (Nashville has a bustling jingle industry, with an abundance of talented musicians and singers available.) With today’s multitrack digital technology, the proper software and available singing talent, you could produce a decent jingle for a local company out of your spare bedroom. As someone mentioned, there are imaging campaigns that are sold to clients all over the country, with slight variations to the lyrics to name the client and represent the location they are being used.
At one TV station I worked, they hired a company to write and produce jingles as another sales tool. This guy would come to the station one day to meet with clients, go into an unused studio with a keyboard, and come back with a sample jingle, written and produced in about 30 minutes. If the client bought the concept, the guy would have it fully produced at his studio. Some of his stuff was lame but some was pretty good.
As local producers, we had nothing to do with musical imaging unless the client already had something. When a client was sold a spot schedule, a producer and I would meet with the client at their place of business to gather copy points and map out the shots we would get on the day of the shoot that would illustrate the script, about 10-12 shots for a 30 second spot, plus anything else we saw that might be useful. I would write a script and send it for approval. We would schedule a shoot, have the script voiced by talent, and the producer put it all together using his visual magic.
As a copywriter, one of my biggest challenges was talking clients out of cliches that they would insist upon, like “family owned and operated since 1995,” something that viewers didn’t give a hoot about and wasted 3 or 4 seconds that could be better used. Sometimes I prevailed, sometimes not.
I cannot speak for Salem, Missouri, but I can attest that locally, in my little city of just over 100,000, there are about three independent recording studios. Of course, there are more recording studios, if we include the facilities at local radio stations.
And there are plenty of local musicians and singers, well above garage band caliber. They’ve got to be good; they’re professionals, and music is how they make their living.
Like I said, I cannot speak for Salem, Missouri, but you might be surprised at where recording studios and good talent are located.
Ken Levine covered this on an episode of his podcast, Hollywood and Levine:
He interviews jingle creator John Wolfert about how the process works.
I should mention that the first half of the interview is more about music composition in general. John starts talking more about the jingle industry around 24:30.