10
by SixFourThree_Archive
Elisha,
Great story and good for you for taking the dough.
Next time, don't settle for $15,000 though. Depending on who "The man" was in your case, I hazard to guess that you could've said $25,000 and gotten it easily.
I have no idea what band you're in, but can tell you (and everybody else who's in a band on this forum) that if an Ad Agency comes knockin', listen and tell them you'll get back to them.
Advertising Agencies pay readily for a tune they think is worth while - ESPECIALLY a tune that isn't mainstream.
I'm a writer at an Ad Agency and I can tell you, I have presented numerous songs from numerous "unknown" bands for numerous clients for numerous formats (Radio/TV/Corporate Videos etc...) and in most cases, if I sell the song to the client, they'll pay whatever it takes to get it and not think twice about doing so.
Remember too, whatever you/your band charges for your song's usage, the agency will immediately mark it up 15% to the client and keep it as commission. So, the more you ask for, the more an agency's take home becomes, and the more they'll want to "sell" your song to the client.
Agency reps will also sometimes encourage you to charge more, up to a point... that point being when it becomes too expensive and they know their cliet won't jive for X amount.
Here's a true story so I can illustrate this better:
A few years ago, I presented a song by a band that I really dig (I'll keep the band's name confidential) for a TV spot that was to air regionally (Midwest). The client loved the tune and I "sold" the concept/song.
SIDEBAR: When agencies present TV spots, we play the song we want to use while running through the storyboard and script. This helps us get a client attached to the song early and more likely to buy it, as apposed to selling the spot first, and then having a shit-ton of meetings to decide on music.
The band was on their own label, so that eliminated the record company red tape headache right off the bat. My producer contacted them directly and the band was interested and quoted us a price of $1,500.
Now, some smaller agencies would jump all over this and get the song for a literal steal and take advantage of this naivete.
However, me a fan of the band and wanting to see them profit from their hard work, I picked up the phone and called them directly.
I explained to the band member that he should go back and reconsider his price and multiply his initial offer by the number of streetlights he counted on the way to his next out-of-state gig. Joking aside, I told him that the client had a lot of money and I gave him a range he and the band should consider.
Well, a few days later we got the client to sign off on the song and secured it's usage for 13 weeks for $20,000 - a bit of a jump from the $1,500 he had originally asked for. Add fifteen percent for our agency commission and the client payed $23,000 for as they put it, "A hip, edgy song that really tells our story." Whatever.
I guess some of you may consider me as a small part of "the man", but it's worth noting that most writers/art directors at Ad Agencies are always looking for unique, off-the-dial songs to use in thier commercials, not Led Zepplin for Cadillac or the Pontiac, Hootie and the Blowfish ads that have recently been puked out.
Also, most creatives at agencies and their producers are honest people who honestly want to help a band out financially, not use and abuse them.
Remember also, even if you do "Sell out", you're only doing so for a 13 week run, with a renewal to be negotiated if they want to run the spot longer.
I see what Elisha did as smart. Take what you can when it comes and reward your creativity and hard work.
Because... if you say "no", I or another writer always have four other CD's in line right behind yours. And 9 times out of 10, the next one in line always says "yes." And when that happens, 100% of the time we say to ourselves, "Goddam that band. Fuck their integrity. I'd rather've given them the cash than Hootie."
