When it comes to TV ad music, the Volume model seems a perfect fit for clients, from Microsoft to the Million Penny Project
What can you do with a penny? When it comes to advertising in today’s world, that question is more relevant than ever. This is especially the case on the music side. "Music production for spots has always struggled with tight budgets, and now music houses need to be more flexible and creative in terms of their business models," says David Della Santa, owner/composer of Volume Music + Sound. "What we’ve tried to do is create an environment where the accent is on value and creativity, not overhead."
Since opening last year, Volume has made good on that statement, with new work for clients as diverse as Microsoft and the Miami-based Million Penny Project, a quarterly fundraising campaign that invites the community and local businesses to collectively donate their financial and professional resources for a cause. While the clients’ campaigns are completely different in scope and objectives, Della Santa believes both were attracted to the same thing: a creative approach to crafting current, alternative and edgy TV ad music that sounds licensed, yet is scored to picture.
Jef Loeb, Co-Creative Director/Writer of Brainchild Creative, the San Francisco ad agency that provided creative support for the Million Penny campaign, concurs. "David is wildly creative – and this piece for the Million Penny Project TV spot is a perfect demonstration of that fact," he says. Loeb recruited Della Santa to score "Make Change," a :30 ad helmed by Kenneth O’Brien, in which pennies are positioned on a white background one at a time, until they form the image of two hands placed together in a gesture of giving.
"Our original plan was to develop an instrumental piece of music that would involve an interesting sonic pattern, to mirror the building block nature of the spot," Loeb explains. "David actually worked that up, but then offered a vocal track, complete with lyrics, as an alternative. After picking our jaws up from the floor, the creative director, the editor, and I immediately agreed that he’d elevated the quality and impact of the spot."
"Jef was looking for something that would make you smile and feel the message of charity and leave those who saw it wanting to hear more," Della Santa recalls. "I really wanted to create a song, with lyrics, and those had to be loosely based on the idea of charity or its benefits. I decided to write from a child’s point of view – the penny seems like the youngest of coins – about him growing up and going to a better place in his life. The instrumentation, like a penny, is simple and inexpensive – upright piano, banjo and acoustic drums. Tricia Kanne sings in an indie pop band called Minipop. I prefer using singers who are really in the world of indie music, and her silky crisp voice beautifully reflects the sentiment of the message. We’ve had so many requests for the entire track we will be recording a full-length version."
What’s more, the track has already opened new doors for the client, whose charitable works are only as fruitful as the exposure it can garner: the Million Penny Project has fielded numerous calls about the TV commercial music from several unlikely sources, the office of the Mayor of San Francisco among them. There is now talk of releasing the full-length version of the song on iTunes, with donations benefiting the organization.
"Nonprofits traditionally suffer in times of economic turmoil," notes Co-Creative Director Carlos Peña, President of brand development and design firm, Pumped, Inc., which launched the Million Penny Project as part of its Pumped for Change initiative. "Having a creative partner like Volume Music Sound on board not only provides our ad with great music, but arms our overall campaign with more potential for exposure."
While Microsoft and agency McCann SF don’t rely on charitable contributions to further their cause, public awareness is still the name of the game.
For that client, composers Della Santa, John Krogh, and Dan Miller contributed to the scores for a trio of spots: The perfect "Dive" doesn’t come easy, and for some kids, pulling off even a passable plunge may require some lessons. MS Excel can help parents assemble a budget that floats. Watching a plant grow may not BE "Exciting," but generating a report using myriad MS Word capabilities sure makes it LOOK exciting. Word is also now a handy tool when you’ve "Found" a lost pet, expecially a little turtle looking for a home.
As with "Make Change," the musical throughline was a connection with the audience, and the appeal for Della Santa and company was a freedom to experiment. "The broadcast department at McCann/SF is very supportive of local artists," says Della Santa. "They wanted to see a variety of styles, but preferred not to go out to numerous music houses. Our composers are very versatle and work from their own studios, so we can afford to experiment – and to make it an attractive proposition economically." Volume offered to submit multiple demo rounds and absorb that cost if the agency didn’t find what they were looking for. "We spent a couple of weeks trying things out, and I think all would agree the approach paid off."
"In the end, the team was so happy they played the final music as well as a bunch of the demos for the rest of the creative and production department at McCann," concludes Della Santa, whose other notable work includes Tylenol "In Concert" (Deutch/NY), Gatorade "X Factor" (Element 79/Chicago), Boost Mobile "RIP" (Berlin Cameron Partners/NY), Violence Policy Center "Bullet Factory" (Lunar Fish/SF), and Discovery Channel "Shark Week" (Bayles Cronin/ATL). "I love to hear things like that."
Client: Microsoft
Spot Titles: "Dive," "Exciting," "Found"
Agency: McCann SF
Agency Producer: LeeAnne Weldon
Creatives: Linda Jaskol,Sarah Bruns
Production Company: Biscuit Films
Director: Aaron Ruel
Editorial: Filmcore
Editor: Connor T. McDonald
Editorial Assitatant: James Cohen
Music: Volume Music + Sound
Composers: David Della Santa, John Krogh, Dan Miller
Audio Mix: M Squared
Engineer: Mark Pitchford
Client: Million Penny Project
Spot Title: ‘Make Change’
Agency: Pumped Inc.
Creative Director: Carlos Peña
Co-Creative Director/Writer: Jef Loeb, Brainchild Creative
Production Company: Filmiko
Director: Kenneth O’Brien
Co-Director: Carlos Peña
Editorial/Post: Phoenix Editorial
Senior Editor: Bob Frisk
Assistant Editor: Matt O’Donnell
Visual Effects Artist: Phil Spitler
Post Producer: Lindsay London
Music: Volume Music + Sound
Composer: David Della Santa
Audio Post: One Union Recording Studios
Engineer: Joaby Deal
