NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Some major music producers and songwriters, including Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Quincy Jones are agreeing to write advertising jingles, according to a published report.
The Wall Street Journal says that with world-wide CD sales plummeting for the fourth year in a row, artists and producers are looking for new, more reliable revenue streams. It said that one talent service, SoundProof LLC, is focusing on getting major songwriters and producers to put together songs for advertisements.
The paper said that advertisers have to pay the established songwriters and producers more than the $20,000 to $40,000 that advertising jingle houses are typically paid, but less than the six to eight figures a company would pay to license an established hit song.
In the past songwriters have written tunes for commercials early in their careers to support themselves, but have rarely written jingles once they become established. One of the best known examples of that is Barry Manilow, who wrote the jingle still used by State Farm Insurance, and the "You deserve a break today" jingle for McDonald's.
One of the first songs coming out of the new effort to enlist major songwriters was done for Bacardi USA Ltd.'s Bombay brand by Edmonds, whose credits include hits for Mary J. Blige, Madonna and Eric Clapton.
The article said that some of the jingles are even being made into full-length songs that are expected to be performed by artists after they debut on commercials. It said one such song, for a client that SoundProof is not yet willing to identify, will be performed in both the jingle and in a full-length song by Christina Aguilera later this year.
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