The Past
The first UK TV advert (for Gibbs SR Toothpaste) was broadcast on 22 September 1955. We were some 15 years behind the USA and most of the earliest UK adverts were adaptations from already familiar posters with a classical music background, and they were a lot longer than today’s 30”.
The 1970s brought colour and more realistic scenarios, and the quality of adverts improved dramatically, with high production values. There was also the start of radio advertising, which kicked off with a generic Birds Eye commercial. This all created a new bespoke industry: a somewhat chaotic music production business with small music agencies representing a number of composers.
In those days, composing for commercials was definitely “un-cool” and no well-known artiste would be seen dead “selling out” and being involved with adverts. So most of the music tracks were original compositions by jobbing writers and there was good money to be made.
By the 1980s the financial prospects had encouraged a plethora of talented (and not so talented) composers and producers to get involved in the advertising music business, but it became a free-for-all, which started to work against the composers. They were played off against each other by unscrupulous advertising agencies and non-existing carrots for freebies were dangled in front of new composers.
Out of what was becoming an unprofessional, shambolic, piecemeal business was born PCAM, which was enthusiastically welcomed with open arms by composers, producers, film production companies and advertising agencies alike to bring some cohesion and professionalism to the industry.
The Beginning
PCAM was formed in 1982 as an industry forum for practitioners of advertising music.
Thirty-four years on it boasts a membership consisting of the most influential and prolific composers in advertising and media, with over a hundred members representing several hundred writers. PCAM is a respected and dedicated group campaigning across a range of issues, not only in advertising but in all media (or applied) music. The organisation provides guidelines and commissioning models and is an influential lobbyist for composers’ rights, maintaining strong ties with other industry bodies including the APA (Advertising Producers Association), IPA (Institute of Practitioners of Advertising), ECSA (European Composer & Songwriter Alliance) and BASCA (British Academy of Composers, Songwriters and Authors).
The Future
The first website was published in 1991 and artists discovered they could advertise themselves, their music, their tour dates etc, as well as sell tickets and merchandise through their own sites, while fans began creating pages to spread the gospel. MySpace started in 2003, YouTube in 2005 and Vevo in 2009 and suddenly, through social media and self-promotion, stars were born and advertising started to become “hip” and part of “monetising” artistes and building successful careers. As a result, music in advertising became even more crowded. “Austerity” and financial cutbacks made the market ever more competitive and encouraged it to fragment again, as in the bad old days, meaning that earning a good living purely from composing media music has become extremely difficult. So composers have had to find other ways to earn a living, and composing for commercials has reverted to the bad old days of freebies and poor rewards for talent.
The one constant throughout this time, having achieved considerable success in continually fighting for composers’ and producers’ rights, was and is PCAM, which makes it even more necessary now than it ever was.
PCAM can only operate successfully and effectively with and for its members. So supporting and getting involving with PCAM is the only hope for a decent future if you wish to make a living out of commercial music writing and producing.
Tony Satchell
PCAM Committee Member