Killer Music Signs Big Names to Do Product Jingles

Picture Henry Mancini--who wrote “Moon River”--composing an original commercial tune for Oscar Mayer. Or, imagine Bill Conti--who composed the theme from “Rocky”--writing a 30-second jingle to promote a product such as Pampers.

While neither composer is under contract with an advertiser right now, both signed contracts last week to be represented by Killer Music, a Los Angeles music production studio that specializes in creating commercial jingles. Killer Music also signed 10 other composers best known for writing film scores, including Danny Elfman, who wrote the music for “Batman” and “Beetlejuice.”

With such big-name composers under its wing, Killer Music is suddenly raising eyebrows among its competitors and among some agency executives. At a time when the advertising industry--and related businesses such as commercial music studios--are in the doldrums, Killer Music appears to be looking for any leg up on the competition.

“None of these guys have ever had anyone out there soliciting business from agencies,” said Dain Eric Blair, executive vice president of Killer Music. “This could bring in a certain number of clients with big budgets.”

Although it is not new for composers of movie scores to turn to the commercial jingle business, they rarely so visibly promote their availability. In some ways, music composers are just following the lead set years ago by a number of film directors who direct TV spots in their spare time. “Top Gun” director Tony Scott directed ads for British Airways, and Adrian Lyne, director of “Fatal Attraction,” also directed ads for Jovan Musk.

But why would hugely successful composers such as Mancini and Conti sign on to pen jingles? “This isn’t a put-down,” Mancini said, “but if I do it, it’s for the money. There’s no other reason to do it.” Industry executives say Mancini could command up to four times the fee of a commercial jingle specialist. That could quickly turn the price of a $10,000 jingle into a $40,000 tune.

Some competitors in the jingle business say Killer may have a hard time selling these costly composers. “This is not a time that agencies are looking to spend more dollars on music,” said Mark Vieha, who wrote the jingle “Get on Your Pontiac and Ride.” He is co-partner in the Los Angeles music house LA/NY Music.

Not only will it cost agencies more for a Mancini or Conti original, but their value isn’t as clear as signing a popular actor to appear in an ad, Vieha said. “You don’t get the payoff in name value because people who see the ad don’t know who wrote the song.”

Besides, there is an inherent difference between writing music for a film, which sells a mood, or a TV commercial, which sells products or services, said Josef Lubinsky, partner in the Los Angeles music production studio Music Animals. Composing a film score “is not like asking someone to buy Bridgestone tires, drink an extra cup of coffee or make you go to McDonald’s today,” Lubinsky said.

Of course, Mancini disagrees. Creating a commercial jingle isn’t all that different from composing a film score, said Mancini, who several years ago wrote music for a Kodak TV spot. “You just make your point in 30 seconds.”

And Bill Conti, who has also written theme music for a number of TV shows, including “Prime Time Live” and “Inside Edition,” said there is a very close relationship between those tunes and commercial jingles. In either case, he said, “you’re really advertising the product.”

The way Conti figures it, since many major advertisers already spend so much money for top-name directors and sets--why not spend the extra money for a top-name composer?

Besides, Mancini added, “writing music isn’t rocket science. The main thing that sells a piece is a hook--a melody that’s a few bars long.”

Mancini, who also wrote such well-known tunes as “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Pink Panther,” said he isn’t concerned that his reputation will suffer if he writes jingles. “Some of the movies I’ve done have tarnished me a lot more than any commercial could.”

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