Today we talk to songwriter, producer and publisher Michael St. James about writing the correct jingle, using prefab versus creating original music for clients, taking creative risks, how sometimes cheesy is right even if you don’t like cheese and much, much more!
“Hold Yourself to Standards You Can Achieve”
Michael St. James is a singer songwriter, producer and marketing professional from Denver, who has navigated the path as music publisher and licensing agent, consulting on the business of music. In his current role as co-founder of Better Ad Music, Michael provides jingles, trailers, music production and creative consulting services for a wide variety of industries & clients and we are so grateful he could join us today.
You Have to Push Quality Over Quantity
After discussing the origins of Michael’s interest in music and early career, the conversation settles into coming up with music for promotional and marketing purposes. We’ve all had clients that “like it because they like it,” and aren’t interested in different approaches. It’s a common issue, and there’s a few ways to work around it to find the right piece of music for their project. It’s important to remain empathetic first of all – this is their company or brand or project, they have their name on it in some fashion so that’s a lot on the line for them.
A great way to approach the project in general is to make three versions and walk them through each one so they can hear the difference, and listen to their feedback. Often times a compromise can be found, “Interoperability between the idea and the execution is critical. Let’s work on this together,” Michael says. It doesn’t always go that way however. “You really have to understand the commercial music industry is about the long haul, which means you have to push quality over quantity, and you might have to walk away.”
Making the whole thing work is the trick, and it’s not easy to step outside your creative comfort zone all the time, but commercial music almost demands that you do. “You have to spread out and be what you consider uncool. I don’t think about coolness but I am aiming for pleasure of execution. Hold yourself to standards you can achieve in your way, and have that be the yardstick – if you believe in it, it will be something you can stand by.”
References & Resources
Micheal St. James – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stjamesmichael/
Better Ad Music – https://betteradmusic.com/
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