Joel Simon, CEO/president of New York music production company JSM Music, sees the transition from the jingle to the music used in today’s commercials as a reaction to the polished structure of the jingles of old. “What happened isn’t that music changed. Those jingles were incredibly musical,” he said. “The marketers, advertising agencies and the brands felt that it was time to grunge (or) dirty it up.”
Today, music houses rarely, if ever, create what would be considered a traditional jingle. They’re more likely to take a piece of contemporary music and customize lyrics that evoke the product. JSM Music, for example, does the music for Kay Jewelers ads, which always include the sung line, “Every kiss begins with K,” and “Come and get your love” for phone maker Alltel.
“It’s not that I don’t do jingles — it’s just that I don’t do things called ‘jingles,”‘ Simon said. “It’s the same music, just a different approach.”
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