Can I Use Popular Music in my Radio Ad?

Before you dive into the world of using popular music in your radio ads, it’s essential to understand the ins and outs of licensing for commercial use. Here’s a concise guide:

Popular music—everyone knows it, and everyone loves to sing along. But is it worth paying out the ass for in your radio ads? Tons of people ask us if they can use a popular song or theme from a TV show/movie in their radio ad.

When you’re in the jingle-making business like us, you really appreciate the holidays because it’s the only season of the year that has it’s own never ending Pandora station. There are radio stations that only play holiday music 24/7 for 3 months. You hear “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” on your parent’s record player. Jingle bells dominate TV commercials. You even hear Christmas classics on the grocery store speaker system while picking up some egg nog. Mmm, egg nog.

Luckily, we enjoy a good holiday jingle. There’s a million to choose from, but we narrowed our list down to our 9 favorite holiday jingles.

Original Music, Ninjas, and YOU!

In the advertisement drenched world of today, it is increasingly difficult to influence buyers. If people sense they are being sold something, they shut down. So how can brands advertise effectively, without really ‘advertising’? One way to burrow into a consumer’s subconscious is to employ the powerful use of music to affect their mood.

A few years ago, a study was conducted involving different styles of music being played in a supermarket. The results were freaking awesome! When French music was played in the store, 77% of the wine purchased was French. When German music filled the air, 73% of wine purchased was German.

Why Music is an Effective Millennial Marketing Tool

According to PTTOW, millennials make up 25% of the U.S. population (77 million people), and their economic spending power is nearly 1.3 trillion dollars. Mashable, a global media company has stated that the one thing that many people don’t understand is in order to sell millennials on a product, concept or service, marketing works best when connecting with them on an emotional level. Over the past decade, one of the most successful tactics used to connect with this demographic has been music. Music is a way millennials can interact socially and connect with one another on deeper, more exciting levels.

According to Arbitron, radio reaches 241 million people in the US each week. That’s 93% of the population twelve and older. Obviously, you don’t want to reach all those people. But, by choosing the right radio stations, and the right days and times to advertise, you can really pinpoint your target market.

Does your company have an identity? A brand? Can you explain it in a few sentences? Let’s put it another way; if someone gave you thirty seconds to stand in front of thousands of people and explain why you’re the best at what you do or offer, what would you say?

Radio jingles have been around since the late 1920’s when General Mills adopted its own a cappella group, the Wheaties Quartet, to save its failing cereal brand. Ever since, companies have been following in Wheaties’ footsteps, creating their own catchy songs for consumers to sing along to. Radio jingles increase brand awareness by repetition and memory. Let’s break down some of the aspects of these branded songs:

Brand Awareness

Radio jingles have a simplistic way of creating brand awareness. When people hear it, they associate it with your brand. Once a consumer has heard your radio jingle and they see an ad for your business or product, they’ll have the song to associate it with.

Audio Logo

An audio logo—a short sound that exemplifies your brand’s services and personality—is incredibly important for your brand. Think of an audio logo as the sound your print logo would make if it could speak. Using these short, identifying sounds to entice an emotional connection between your business and your consumer can be the marketing transformation your brand needs. New trends in brand music change constantly, but one thing will always stay the same—an audio logo communicates a memorable feeling (including the brand’s personality) to the consumer within a simple second or two.

Voice Technology & Society

You’ve seen it everywhere: the new wave of technology is geared toward voice.

2017 has been a great year for radio and radio lovers alike. With new ways that stations and advertisers can communicate with their consumers, the radio industry is at an all-time high.

There have been many radio trends in 2017 that we loved and we wanted to share some of our top picks. These radio trends are what people are listening to, how they are listening to it, and some factors on how things can affect the content we listen to.

Let’s start with the facts. Radio still reaches more people than any other medium according to Nielsen; 93% of American adults to be exact.

Radio technology has come a long way and gone are the days when you needed to use FM or long aerials to catch a good signal so you can hear the broadcast clearly. Nowadays, radio stations broadcast digitally and it has increased the quality of the broadcasts. Most radio stations are now accessible via the Internet allowing multitudes of people from different locations to tune in and enjoy their favorite programs.

Such improvements in broadcasts and accessibility of radio stations have seen considerable increases in listeners, particularly those tuning in digitally and via the Internet. Because of these digital developments, radio ads have become a hit and radio ads production companies like Push Button Productions have taken the center stage.

A new study reveals that you should spend your next advertising dollars on streaming media as opposed to AM/FM radio. While traditional radio advertising still is effective it’s not optimal. Casual radio listeners switch between stations as the ads come on and are often tuned out from them. Studies estimate that as many as 70% of listeners do not pay attention to the ads on AM/FM radio. Not an ideal situation for companies spending their hard earned money looking to get a return on that investment.

On the other hand, streaming media has a targeted audience that’s much more engaged with the thing they are listening to.