Jingle Punks

(Post: English)
"Back in 2005, indie rocker Jared Gutstadt landed a sweet job between tours: lead editor and composer on Chappelle's Show on cable TV's Comedy Central."

Before long, his ability to quickly crank out tunes earned him the nickname "Jingle Punk Jared."

The nickname stuck. So, too, did his feeling that there wasn't enough culturally relevant music available for producers trying to make their TV shows or commercials feel current.

In October 2008, Gutstadt opened a stock music company out of his New York City apartment as a way for struggling bands, unsung composers, and unpublished writers to get their work on top shows on network and cable TV.

Today, Jingle Punks licenses music from a swath of musicians ranging from Chip Taylor (he wrote the 1960s hit Wild Thing) to Gutstadt himself.

Gutstadt, 31, whose "musical and entrepreneurial hero" is P. Diddy, says TV network clients pay between $10,000 and $20,000 for four months of access to Jingle Punks' searchable database of 10,000 songs, but the real money is in the royalties after a show airs.

He says Jingle Punks has pulled in about $220,000 since its launch, from networks such as Bravo, MTV, VH1, and A&E, and brands such as Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark's uggies, and Geico.

After landing a deal in late May to license music to a roster of Viacom properties, Gutstadt embarked on his first vacation since starting the company.

Source: BusinessWeek
Photo: Jingle Punks