Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials (and more): A Manual for Composers and Students

Advertising Agency and Process Structure!! 19

Arthur: Generally, the art director, by definition, would not have a

great deal of influence, but in today’s business the art director is

more of a jack-of-all-trades and is really responsible, with the

writer, for the creative product in total. So, his opinion and the

writer’s opinion weigh about equally in choosing music for com-

mercials.

MZ: How do you choose the style of music for a commercial?

Arthur: If you want to have a continuing theme for the music, then

you’re dealing with multiple styles, and you pick the styles that

seem to fit the situation that you’re developing now. When it

comes to designing [music] for a campaign, you have to make a

decision whether you want it to sound very current or you want

it to feel like a period piece or whether you want the music to

drive the action or want the music to be a bed for the action—

how you deal with lyrics all depends on the message and the

tone of the advertising. So, most often you agree in advance

what the tone of the advertising should be and then pick music

to go with that tone.

MZ: How often does the initial musical direction end up being the

musical style?

Arthur: Most often a good creative team will go to a music com-

pany with a tone and a feeling that they want to achieve, and

then they will ask the music company if they have any ideas that

fit their basic direction, and if the music people come up with a

better idea, a smart creative team will go along with that. I

would say that happens one-third to one-half of the time.

Structure of an Account Team

Account Directors, Account Supervisors, and Account
Executives

The account people are the direct liaisons from agencies to clients and are
involved in all aspects of client services. They are the liaison to the media
buying department (assuming that the agency buys the media for clients),
which includes television, radio, newspaper, print, the Internet, bill-
boards, and other forms of advertising and marketing. The agency receives
commissions or fees for their services. Media placement is one of the most
crucial functions of an agency. The wrong strategy can mean failure. Some
agencies provide only the creative work, while others solely provide the
media buying. Most large agencies offer both services.

Researchers

Researchers help clients research the best advertising strategies that will
help to achieve their business goals. This involves extensive research.