If I sign a ‘work -for-hire’ agreement, does that mean I will not make anything if my voice is on TV… maybe even a big TV show theme? They say they would never sell the song but if I do make it big can they
exploit that song and make money because of my fame?
If you sing jingles as work-for-hire you will get no payment for recurring play of the jingle spots, known as ‘residuals’. This kind of deal is also called a ‘buyout’. Payment is negotiated between jingle client and performer, and you must decide
if the fee you are offered is worth it to you right now. Buyouts are frequently offered for local and regional spots. But if you sing larger regional, national and international spots
as work-for-hire, you are severely underpaid. (I did that in my early pre-union
days as staff singer at a jingle company in Memphis and I know this first hand.)
have the right to use your name or your picture! And… ‘they say they will
never’…. HA! NEVER trust something they won’t sign to on paper. Without a
signed contract, they can and will use your work, name, picture anywhere they want.
understands the commercial business. You may want to get a simple contract
created for your work-for-hire buyout agreement, to protect your name and voice from being
exploited. Also be careful singing other people’s song
demos, for the same reason.
the union that is now called SAG-AFTRA. If you are doing the larger market jingles you really should look into this.
The residuals can be extremely lucrative.
bought out. Here’s a good page to read about jingle writing fees… http://woman.thenest.com/much-jingle-writers-paid-8968.html
If you are allowing parts of your full songs in jingles, make sure you have
those songs fully copyrighted, and you should get them to do a synchronization license. Don’t ever just trust the promise
‘we’ll never…’ without a license.
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