Industrial Music and Advertising ...............................................................
Industrial music— not the dance music, but the music of the working world —
is any music that is used for a specific, usually commercial, purpose.
Advertising music (jingles), convention music, and music written for music
libraries all fall under this category.The best way to break into advertising as a new composer is to actively go
out and seek local businesses and find out if they need music for any televi-
sion or radio campaigns. Local bars are a great place to start, because they
almost always use music in their advertising — an extra bonus for them (and
you) would be for you or your band to perform at the bar in question. Local
clothing and shoe stores are also good places to try, as they also use music
in their advertising and are always trying to find a new way to sound “fresh”
and “cutting-edge.”Business conventions ........................................................................
If there’s going to be a big business convention in your town, find out if any
local businesses are going to have a booth at the event. Many times, the most
stodgy-seeming company, such as medical suppliers or stationery stores, will
hire a musician or a small band to play music at their booth in order to attract
attention away from their competitors. As with any potential job, call ahead
to set up an appointment — or at the least, try to find out who is in charge of
setting up the convention booth for the company. Mail a copy of your demo
disc to that person and follow up after the appropriate length of time (one
week is usually good).Music libraries ...................................................................................
Music libraries, or song banks, can range from a single CD with one composer’s
interpretation of public domainscores (musical copyright expires 70 years
from the composer’s death and becomes “public domain”) to Web sites that
sell thousands of sound effects to full-length compositions from any number
of musicians and composers. Many of the Web-based music libraries, such as
Audiosparx (www.audiosparx.com), are always open to working with more
musicians, and will pay you 50 percent of whatever they earn from people
downloading your sound effects or music. Plenty of musicians make a small
but steady income working with music libraries, which then sell music and
sounds to video game companies, independent film companies, and even
phone companies (for ringtones).270 Part V: The Part of Tens