Advertisers : Don't let a music brief become a murder motive.

If you work in advertising in any capacity, whether as a client or a member of an agency team, you can probably recall a few times in your career where you wanted to kill the other guy (whoever "the other guy" was, or whichever side he happened to be on) over the most improbable cause for murderous impulses : MUSIC for an ad, that just would not come out right. In fact, there was probably a whole BUNCH of people you wanted to kill - not just one person, but a motley crew of self-appointed "X Factor" judges who generously shared liberal amounts of wisdom on the question of which soundtrack would be right for your film.

It is, indeed, often (tragically) funny how music is one these things about which EVERYONE on the team has a point of view. It's also one of these areas where the worst, most counter-productive suggestions or comments tend to be thrown around WITHOUT the all-too-frequently-used red-flag caveat of "I'm not an expert, BUT" (Usually followed by a statement according to which "the dress should really be blue", or "that demo needs another half a second to get its point across". I won't even go into matters of logo size, in which, not only does everyone confess they're not an expert, but everyone agrees, usually in a manly tone, that it should, or rather must, be way bigger.). In fact, everyone around you probably thinks they ARE a music expert.

The illusion that everyone is a music expert is - unfortunately, but undeniably - rooted in a fundamental truth about music : it "SPEAKS" to everyone. We're not going to get into the hundreds of studies that have demonstrated the unique emotional power of music, or its ability to elevate the impact of whatever images it supports : Hollywood has been proving and leveraging said impact for the better part of the past 100 years. So much so that, we at SoundAdvice use the film industry as an example and a source of teachings in a training we share with clients about how to best approach the musical side of a commercial, whichever the medium might be (ask us for it and we'll show up).  Suffice to say for now that the reason why everyone feels entitled to talk about music is because, save for a few mutants (apologies if you are one, and call us for the number of Professor X's School for the Gifted), everyone FEELS something about music.

Which doesn't make everyone an expert, far from it : like with any art form or discipline, music offers ENDLESS possibilities - and different choices of tone, style, chords, sounds, textures and atmospheres will produce a literally infinite spectrum of effects on the viewer / listener / consumer. Any self-respecting composer can literally choose among thousands of possible directions depending on the emotional communication objectives and key drama elements that you as a client or agency want to help get across in YOUR particular ad. REAL MUSIC-FOR-ADS EXPERTISE therefore lies in the ability to reconcile in-depth, detailed understanding of your STRATEGY, of your CREATIVE IDEA, and of the insights that inspired the work, in order to make the right CHOICES - of composition, arrangement, production, and mix. The point shouldn't be to create a piece of music you'll want to play every Sunday morning when you wake up. The point is to make the choices that will help the music lift your ad's ROI. Music that works well in an ad is, first and foremost, a question of choices - meaning of reconciling art with strategy.

Formulating the choices that will make up a great music brief therefore requires proficiency in THREE languages : the LANGUAGE OF STRATEGY, the LANGUAGE OF THE IDEA, and the LANGUAGE OF MUSIC. Only an ability to speak these three fluently will ensure that the music you get is in the service of the idea - and of the benefit that it brings to life. Which is pretty much why we at SoundAdvice have chosen a unique approach to these issues : instead of letting the client and agency struggle forever, WE will write the music brief WITH and FOR YOU. And then, once the brief is agreed, we deliver the finished musical product in the best quality and timings.

We at SoundAdvice.ch have 18 years of experience in Marketing and Agency management - amassed during the "Golden Age" of P&G; 15+ years experience in music (composition, recording, production); and the best self-contained recording, mixing and mastering facilities, run by a seasoned, well-in-demand sound engineer. So whether you're agency or client, what you get from us is a fully finished, comprehensive music product, from brief to final mixes, that will lift your work's ROI - and resolve even the most unbearable headaches. Without, needless to say, the need for you to kill anyone, so you can enjoy the fruits of (y)our labor in other places than a prison's TV room. Ain't life grand ?

Visit us at https://www.soundadvice.ch - or check our youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgA9hQq4cn_N_rgRvfGHTeg to get an idea of the sort of thing we do. Each of the posted films comes with a little story about how the music came together and the service we provided for each client. Of course, don't hesitate to contact us ([email protected]) for more.

And in the meantime, enjoy the music (and, you know - your freedom).

Michel - for SoundAdvice.ch