Music is a crucial part of any viral, classic, and memorable commercial. The soundtrack will aid in capturing the attention of people who might not be watching or listening, giving you a chance to pass the message. It also adds the sound dimension to your promo for the target persons to engage and remember.
That is how powerful commercial music is in a promo.
However, you shouldn’t add music for the sake of it. The commercial track might come out to be too distracting, obscuring the main message. In other words, the chosen commercial music should enhance the message instead of being the main thing.
Here are a few issues you should balance to help you choose the best music and get your commercial right:
Is Commercial Music Necessary in Advertising?
While music is helpful in a commercial, it is not mandatory. Why then do ad producers go through the trouble and risk of adding music to a commercial? And does the music add any value to the promo?
The answer lies in understanding how music compliments a promo.
a) Music Evokes Emotions
Among the top reasons why commercials love music is the range of emotions it evokes. You can use an upbeat sound, high tech sound, or a melancholic saxophone sound to set the tone for your commercial.
To understand the emotional manipulation that happens with music, you only need to check how the international brands use music to light up the mood of fans. For example, alcohol companies also use music to create a merry-making atmosphere around drinking. At the same time, children’s products feature a particular type of music, building a sense of playfulness or sweet tenderness.
Remember, when the target audience begins to associate the product with certain emotions, they will buy your product whenever they have such feelings.
b) It helps Narrate the Story
A lot of commercial success depends on the ability of the ad to tell a story. Luckily, music helps bring the images and actions on screen to life.
Do you recall how movies utilize specific tempos in invoking different emotions as they transition into another screenplay?
In the same way, commercial music can aid in creating the crescendo before the ad gets to the call to action section.
c) Helps Inspire Action
Music can build solidarity by making the listeners feel as being part of a group. The best demonstration of this phenomenon is when people recite the national, school, or sporting team’s anthem. It invokes action by inspiring you to stand for something or against another.
Similarly, commercial music can strengthen the psychological emotion of inclusion. For instance, the 2010 World Cup FIFA commercial perfectly used Shakira’s song “waka waka.” It remains one of the best examples of how music inspires action for unity in the African continent.
d) Enhances Marketing
Just like commercial music can aid in inspiring action, it is also valuable for reinforcing sales. However, the choice of song to use in an ad will depend on several factors.
When targeting different demographic groups, it is vital to understand how they identify with a particular genre, voice, or tone. Moreover, the message in the tracks needs to coincide with the specific product on offer.
e) Forms Part of Branding
Have you heard a lovely song or soundtrack which you immediately associated with a brand or product?
It is the commercial music producers who make iconic jingles for use in audio and visual advertisements.
Therefore, music creates a sense of consistency, enabling the brand to remain solid across all platforms.
What Type of Commercial Music Should You Use?
As seen in the previous section, the decision to use music in a commercial should be deliberate and geared towards a particular outcome.
For this reason, there are different types of music you can choose for your commercial, as listed below:
i. Instrumentals
Instrumentals are musical sounds without words or human voices. You can either extract instrumental music from an existing song or create it organically.
Why choose instrumentals as your commercial music?
With the absence of human words or vocals, listeners can focus on the message in your promo instead of singing along to lyrics, only to forget the message your brand was trying to pass.
However, you might lose the connection that lyrics create with an audience when added to a promo.
ii. Vocalized Music
Vocalized music has lyrics done by one artist, a choir, or such other human combinations.
If you want to use vocalized music in your commercials, below are two points to utilize:
· Commissioning Music
Here, you’ll look for a gifted music writer to create a tune for your campaign or brand. In other cases, several music writers may bid to produce pieces according to specified instructions. Whatever the case, you’ll need to provide the desired words or a general message for the song.
Remember, creating an original song is advantageous because you will not be riding on the vibe of other people. In short, the created music will only be identifiable to your brand or product.
However, there is a disadvantage. The target market might take a while to identify with the music.
· Existing music
You’ll use existing music as it is or repurpose the melody to fit your desired taste for this option. This choice is suitable when you want to tap into a market that already loves a piece of particular music, musician, or genre. Unfortunately, if people do not love the song, they will ignore your product or brand as well.
Due to lawsuits on copyright infringes, read more on this choice by reading the commercial video music article in our blog section.
N/B: Vocalized music gives you a chance to tag the message alongside the melody. As people sing along, they will mention and fall in love with the brand. The lyrics make the song relatable, and in the process, memorable.
iii. Instrumentation and Other Sounds
Using sounds such as drums, saxophones, shakers, pianos, among other such sounds, can help create a particular context that will reinforce your message. The sounds enhance a mood that resonates with the product you are advertising. It is also one way of ensuring that listeners and viewers focus on the message instead of the musical sideshows.
Hence, choose the sound based on the message, product, or target market.
Producing Music for Commercials
The best commercials use original or organic music. Such music has no copyright issues that may inflate the cost. Listeners will also be getting an original melody, helping to capture their attention. Moreover, such music shows your ingenuity as a brand.
For these reasons, you should consider organic music for your commercials.
So, how do you go about producing organic music for your commercials?
1) Identify a Specific Message
What message do you want to carry in the music? Is it a short-term campaign message or a perpetual company tagline?
A campaign message changes from time to time, while a brand identity message may take a while before revising.
Once you identify the general message, you can scan the market for existing songs with similar messaging.
If you find such songs, you can ride on them or repurpose the melodies to fit your campaign requirements.
However, if there is no music with the desired message or prefer to produce an original tune, it is time to hire an artist.
2) Hire an Artist
Producing organic music is no easy feat. It can be daunting even to an experienced artist.
Nevertheless, you may settle for a single artist, a choir, or any smaller group in between. These artists can be famous or anonymous.
Famous artists come with clout that you ride on to market your brand. However, they are expensive to hire and may push potential fans away because they do not like them in the first place.
On the other hand, you have the option of a music voice-over artist. They, too, might be famous or underground artists waiting for their time to shine.
After making a choice, it is time to go to the studio.
3) Choose a Music Producer
Any music is only as good as its producer. The producer has the massive role of blending the message, music, and the artists involved. Remember, music for commercials is also different from songs for entertainment.
For this reason, you need a professional producer who understands your needs and can execute the project according to your instructions.
Go for an experienced music producer. Experience helps producers to identify tricks that can work and isolate those that may not work. Moreover, you get value for money through quick services, fewer errors, and general expertise.
Having known how to produce commercial music, let’s tackle the issue of pricing, shall we?
Cost of Producing Commercial Music
The considerable role of music in commercials makes it a rather pricy affair. However, it will depend on the approach you take when creating this music. That is, is it existing, or you want organic music?
Whether you use it as it is or repurpose it, existing music is quick and readily available. However, you’ll have to pay copyright or the cost of repurposing. Your negotiation skills and the rates provided by the artists will determine the price in this case.
On the other hand, original/organic music gives your brand an authentic feel. Nevertheless, you have to budget for either a popular one or an anonymous voice-over artist. You might also need to hire a studio for your music production if the.
Fortunately, employing freelance music voice-over artists online will help you reduce cost as they already have studios. At the same time, you can access a pool of highly creative and talented commercial music voices. This variety is excellent, especially if you are involved in short term marketing campaigns
What Now?
Quality music for commercials is a huge investment that you have to make for your brand. Thus, choose a producer with the experience, expertise, and tools needed to deliver the best melody for your promo.
And because music is an art, you’ll need a very creative producer. A producer exposed to different types of music will also give you a more comprehensive range of musical selections, increasing the chances of getting it right with your musical commercial.
Hire an audio talent by visiting our Bunny Studio website. We offer a customized package for your promo. You also get a male, female, group, and all other types of musical artists you may need for your ad at a reasonable price.
